The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods: first, its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, developed agriculture, and made contact with peoples to the north; the second, the Iron Age empires that consolidated both intra-Africa, and extra-Africa trade, and developed centralized states; third, major polities flourished, which would undergo an extensive history of contact with non-Africans; fourth, the colonial period, in which Great Britain and France controlled nearly the entire region; and fifth, the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.

Early human settlers from northern Holocene societies arrived in West Africa around 12,000 B.C.[dubious– discuss] Sedentary farming began in, or around the fifth millennium B.C, as well as the domestication of cattle. By 1500 B.C, ironworking technology allowed an expansion of agricultural productivity, and the first city-states later formed. Northern tribes developed walled settlements and non-walled settlements that numbered at 400; in the forest region, Iron Age cultures began to flourish, and an inter-region trade began to appear. The desertification of the Sahara and the climatic change of the coast cause trade with upper Mediterranean peoples to be seen.

The domestication of the camel allowed the development of a trans-Saharan trade with cultures across the Sahara, including Carthage and the Berbers; major exports included gold, cotton cloth, metal ornaments, and leather goods, which were then exchanged for salt, horses, textiles, and other such materials. Local leather, cloth, and gold also contributed to the abundance of prosperity for many of the following empires.

The development of the region's economy allowed more centralized states and civilizations to form, beginning with the Nok culture that began in 1000 B.C. and the Ghana Empire that first flourished between the 9th and 12th centuries, which later gave way to the Mali Empire. In current-day Mauritania, there exist archaeological sites in the towns of Tichit and Oualata that were initially constructed around 2000 B.C., and were found to have originated from the Soninke branch of the Mandé peoples. Also, based on the archaeology of city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, the Mali empire came to dominate much of the region until its defeat by Almoravid invaders in 1052.

Three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century, they included Ghana, Gao and Kanem.[8]

The Sosso Empire sought to fill the void, but was defeated (c. 1240) by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. The Mali Empire continued to flourish for several centuries, most particularly under Sundiata's grandnephew Musa I, before a succession of weak rulers led to its collapse under Mossi, Tuareg and Songhai invaders. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed.

Meanwhile, south of the Sudan, strong city states arose in Igboland, such as the 10th-century Kingdom of Nri, which helped birth the arts and customs of the Igbo people, Bono in the 12th century, which eventually culminated in the formation the all-powerful AkanEmpire of Ashanti, while Ife rose to prominence around the 14th century. Further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria.

The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in the present-day southeastern Nigeria and a subgroup of the Igbo people, the Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland and was administered by a priest-king called as an Eze Nri, the Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people and possessed divine authority in religious matters.

The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western and North central Nigeria,. Established in the 15th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states, it rose through the outstanding organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the FonKingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west.

The Benin Empire was a pre-colonial empire located in what is now southern Nigeria, its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey, the Benin Empire was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa, dating perhaps to the eleventh century CE",. The Benin Empire was governed by a sovereign Emperor with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and a powerful council rich in resources, wealth, ancient science and technology with cities described as beautiful and large as Haarlem. "Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa (1668) ". Its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa, it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion and scramble of Africa.

Portuguese traders began establishing settlements along the coast in 1445, followed by the French, British, Spanish,Danish and Dutch; the African slave trade began not long after, which over the following centuries would debilitate the region's economy and population. The slave trade also encouraged the formation of states such as the Asante Empire, Bambara Empire and Dahomey, whose economic activities include but not limited to exchanging slaves for European firearms.

Britain controlled the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria throughout the colonial era, while France unified Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast and Niger into French West Africa. Portugal founded the colony of Guinea-Bissau, while Germany claimed Togoland, but was forced to divide it between France and Britain following First World War due to the Treaty of Versailles. Only Liberia retained its independence, at the price of major territorial concessions.

Following World War II, nationalist movements arose across West Africa; in 1957, Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah, became the first sub-Saharan colony to achieve its independence, followed the next year by France's colonies (Guinea in 1958 under the leadership of President Ahmed Sekou Touré); by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous.

Since independence, many West African nations have been submerged under political instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

Since the end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some brutal conflicts, including:

West Africa, broadly defined to include the western portion of the Maghreb (Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), occupies an area in excess of 6,140,000 km2, or approximately one-fifth of Africa. The vast majority of this land is plains lying less than 300 meters above sea level, though isolated high points exist in numerous states along the southern shore of West Africa.[17]

The northern section of West Africa (narrowly defined to exclude the western Maghreb) is composed of semi-arid terrain known as Sahel, a transitional zone between the Sahara and the savannahs of the western Sudan. Forests form a belt between the savannas and the southern coast, ranging from 160 km to 240 km in width.[18]

The northwest African region of Mauritania periodically suffers country-wide plagues of locusts which consume water, salt and crops on which the human population relies.[19]

West Africa is west of an imagined north-south axis lying close to 10° east longitude,[17] the Atlantic Ocean forms the western as well as the southern borders of the West African region.[17] The northern border is the Sahara Desert, with the Ranishanu Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region,[20] the eastern border is less precise, with some placing it at the Benue Trough, and others on a line running from Mount Cameroon to Lake Chad.

Colonial boundaries are reflected in the modern boundaries between contemporary West African states, cutting across ethnic and cultural lines, often dividing single ethnic groups between two or more states.[21]

In contrast to most of Central, Southern and Southeast Africa, West Africa is not populated by Bantu-speaking peoples.[22]

A Trans-ECOWAS project, established in 2007, plans to upgrade railways in this zone. One of the goals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the development of an integrated railroad network.[23] Aims include the extension of railways in member countries, the interconnection of previously isolated railways and the standardisation of gauge, brakes, couplings, and other parameters, the first line would connect the cities and ports of Lagos, Cotonou, Lomé and Accra and would allow the largest container ships to focus on a smaller number of large ports, while efficiently serving a larger hinterland. This line connects 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge and 1,000 mm (3 ft 33⁄8 in) metre gauge systems, which would require four rail dual gauge, which can also provide standard gauge.[23]

The Trans–West African Coastal Highway is a transnational highway project to link 12 West African coastal states, from Mauritania in the north-west of the region to Nigeria in the east, with feeder roads already existing to two landlocked countries, Mali and Burkina Faso.[24]

Despite the wide variety of cultures in West Africa, from Nigeria through to Senegal, there are general similarities in dress, cuisine, music and culture that are not shared extensively with groups outside the geographic region. This long history of cultural exchange predates the colonization era of the region and can be approximately placed at the time of the Ghana Empire (proper: Wagadou Empire), Mali Empire or perhaps before these empires.

A street and airport in the famous town of Timbuktu, Mali, showing the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style of the West African interior

The main traditional styles of building (in conjunction with modern styles) are the distinct Sudano-Sahelian style in inland areas, and the coastal forest styles more reminiscent of other sub-Saharan areas, they differ greatly in construction due to the demands made by the variety of climates in the area, from tropical humid forests to arid grasslands and desert. Despite the architectural differences, buildings perform similar functions, including the compound structure central to West African family life or strict distinction between the private and public worlds needed to maintain taboos or social etiquette.

A man in the Boubou (or Agbada), a traditional robe symbolic of West Africa

In contrast to other parts of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, the concepts of hemming and embroidering clothing have been traditionally common to West Africa for centuries, demonstrated by the production of various breeches, shirts, tunics and jackets. As a result, the peoples of the region's diverse nations wear a wide variety of clothing with underlying similarities. Typical pieces of west African formal attire include the knee-to-ankle-length, flowing Boubou robe, Dashiki, and SenegaleseKaftan (also known as Agbada and Babariga), which has its origins in the clothing of nobility of various West African empires in the 12th century. Traditional half-sleeved, hip-long, woven smocks or tunics (known as fugu in Gurunsi, riga in Hausa) -- worn over a pair of baggy trousers—is another popular garment;[25] in the coastal regions stretching from southern Ivory Coast to Benin, a huge rectangular cloth is wrapped under one arm, draped over a shoulder, and held in one of the wearer's hands—coincidentally, reminiscent of Romans' togas. The best-known of these toga-like garments is the Kente (made by the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast), who wear them as a gesture of national pride.

Jollof rice or Benachin, one of many Pan–West African dishes found only in West Africa

Scores of foreign visitors to West African nations (e.g., traders, historians, emigrants, colonists, missionaries) have benefited from its citizens' generosity, and even left with a piece of its cultural heritage, via its foods. West African cuisines have had a significant influence on those of Western civilization for centuries; several dishes of West African origin are currently enjoyed in the Caribbean (e.g., the West Indies and Haiti); Australia; the USA (particularly Louisiana, Virginia, North and South Carolina); Italy; and other countries. Although some of these recipes have been altered to suit the sensibilities of their adopters, they retain a distinct West African essence.[26]

West Africans cuisines include fish (especially among the coastal areas), meat, vegetables, and fruits—most of which are grown by the nations' local farmers; in spite of the obvious differences among the various local cuisines in this multinational region, the foods display more similarities than differences. The small difference may be in the ingredients used. Most foods are cooked via boiling or frying. Commonly featured, starchy vegetables include yams, plantains, cassava, and sweet potatoes.[27] Rice is also a staple food, as is the Serer people's sorghumcouscous (called "Chereh" in Serer) particularly in Senegal and the Gambia.[28]Jollof rice—originally from the Kingdom of Jolof (now part of modern-day Senegal) but having spread to the Wolofs of Gambia—is also enjoyed in many Western nations, as well;[29]Mafé (proper: "Tigh-dege-na" or Domodah) from Mali (via the Bambara and Mandinka)[30]—a peanut-butter stew served with rice;[31][32]Akara (fried bean balls seasoned with spices served with sauce and bread) from Nigeria is a favourite breakfast for Gambians and Senegalese, as well as a favourite side snack or side dish in Brazil and the Caribbean just as it is in West Africa. It is said that its exact origin may be from Yorubaland in Nigeria.[33][34]Fufu (from the Twi language, a dough served with a spicy stew or sauce for example okra stew etc.) from Ghana is enjoyed throughout the region and beyond even in Central Africa with their own versions of it.[35]

Kora-playing Griots in Senegal, 1900. Both the Kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute, and the griot musical-caste are unique to West Africa.

Two important related traditions that musically make West African musical attitudes unique are the Griot tradition, and the Praise-singing tradition; in many cases, these two genres are highly similar, the difference being whether the traditions are considered the property of hereditary castes (Griot) or to talented individuals among a ruler's subjects (Praise-singing). In both cases the minstrel tradition and specialization in certain string and percussion instruments is observed.

Traditionally, musical and oral history as conveyed over generations by Griots are typical of West African culture in Mande, Wolof, Songhay, Moor and (to some extent, though not universal) Fula areas in the far west. A hereditary caste occupying the fringes of society, the Griots were charged with memorizing the histories of local rulers and personages and the caste was further broken down into music-playing Griots (similar to bards) and non-music playing Griots. Like Praise-singers, the Griot's main profession was musical acquisition and prowess, and patrons were the sole means of financial support. Modern Griots enjoy higher status in the patronage of rich individuals in places such as Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea, and to some extent make up the vast majority of musicians in these countries. Examples of modern popular Griot artists include Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Mamadou Diabate, Rokia Traore and Toumani Diabate.

In other areas of West Africa, primarily among the Hausa, Mossi, Dagomba and Yoruba in the area encompassing Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, Nigeria and Niger, the traditional profession of non-hereditary praise-singers, minstrels, bards and poets play a vital role in extending the public show of power, lineage and prestige of traditional rulers through their exclusive patronage. Like the Griot tradition, praise singers are charged with knowing the details of specific historic events and royal lineages, but more importantly need to be capable of poetic improvisation and creativity, with knowledge of traditional songs directed towards showing a patron's financial and political or religious power. Competition between Praise-singing ensembles and artistes are high, and artists responsible for any extraordinarily skilled prose, musical compositions and panegyric songs are lavishly rewarded with money, clothing, provisions and other luxuries by patrons who are usually politicians, rulers, Islamic clerics and merchants; these successful praise-singers rise to national stardom. Examples include Mamman Shata, Souley Konko, Fati Niger, Saadou Bori and Dan Maraya. In the case of Niger, numerous praise songs are composed and shown on television in praise of local rulers, Islamic clerics and politicians.

Nollywood of Nigeria, is the main film industry of West Africa. The Nigerian cinema industry is the second largest film industry in terms of number of annual film productions, ahead of the American film industry in Hollywood.[41] Senegal and Ghana also have long traditions of producing films, the late Ousmane Sembène, the Senegalese film director, producer and writer is from the region, as is the Ghanaian Shirley Frimpong-Manso.

Islam is the predominant religion of the West African interior and the far west coast of the continent (70% of West Africans); and was introduced to the region by traders in the 9th century. Islam is the religion of the region's biggest ethnic groups by population. Islamic rules on livelihood, values, dress and practices had a profound effect on the populations and cultures in their predominant areas, so much so that the concept of tribalism is less observed by Islamized groups like the Mande, Wolof, Hausa, Fula and Songhai, than they are by non-Islamized groups.[42] Ethnic intermarriage and shared cultural icons are established through a superseded commonality of belief or community, known as ummah.[43] Traditional Muslim areas include Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Niger; the upper coast and inland two-thirds of Sierra Leone and inland Liberia; the western, northern and far-eastern regions of Burkina Faso; and the northern halves of the coastal nations of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast.[44]

Christianity, a relative newcomer introduced from the late 19th to mid-to-late 20th centuries, is associated with the British and French colonisation eras. As Western Christianity, it includes predominantly Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism, it has become the predominant religion in the central and southern part of Nigeria, and the coastal regions stretching from southern Ghana to coastal parts of Sierra Leone. Like Islam, elements of traditional African religion are mixed with Christianity,[47] this religion was brought to the region by European missionaries during the colonial era.[48]

West Africans primarily speak Niger–Congo languages, belonging mostly, though not exclusively, to its non-Bantu branches, though some Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic speaking groups are also found in West Africa. The Niger–Congo-speaking Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, Akan and Wolof ethnic groups are the largest and most influential. In the central Sahara, Mandinka or Mande groups are most significant. Chadic-speaking groups, including the Hausa, are found in more northerly parts of the region nearest to the Sahara, and Nilo-Saharan communities, such as the Songhai, Kanuri and Zarma, are found in the eastern parts of West Africa bordering Central Africa. The population of West Africa is estimated at 362 million[2] people as of 2016.

Colonial languages also play a pivotal cultural and political role, being adopted as the official languages of most countries in the region, as well as linguae franca in communication between the region's various ethnic groups, for historical reasons, Western European languages such as French, English and Portuguese predominate in Southern and Coastal subregions, whilst Arabic spreads inland northwards.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a documentary film about the origin of this peace movement. The film has been used as an advocacy tool in post-conflict zones like Sudan and Zimbabwe, mobilizing African women to petition for peace and security.[51]

^ abPaul R. Masson, Catherine Anne Pattillo, "Monetary union in West Africa (ECOWAS): is it desirable and how could it be achieved?" (Introduction). International Monetary Fund, 2001. ISBN1-58906-014-8

^Facts On File, Incorporated, Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East (2009), p. 448, ISBN143812676X: "The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, situated in western North Africa..."

^David Seddon, A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East (2004), ISBN020340291X: "We have, by contrast, chosen to include the predominantly Arabic-speaking countries of western North Africa (the Maghreb), including Mauritania (which is a member of the Arab Maghreb Union)..."

^Mohamed Branine, Managing Across Cultures: Concepts, Policies and Practices (2011), p. 437, ISBN1849207291: "The Magrebian countries or the Arab countries of western North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia)..."

United Nations geoscheme
–
The United Nations geoscheme is a system which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups. It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division based on the M49 coding classification, for instance, UNSD includes Georgia and Cyprus in Western Asia, yet the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and UNESCO

1.
The definition of regions and subregions in use by the United Nations for statistical purposes. Antarctica is omitted.

Maghreb
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The Maghreb, or the Greater Maghreb, is usually defined as much or most of the region of western North Africa or Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. Historical terms for the region or various portions of the Maghreb include Mauretania, Numidia, Libya, the term maghrib is Arabic for west, from the verb gharaba. In the strict sense, the definite form al

North Africa
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North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of Africa. The United Nationss definition of Northern Africa is, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, the countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya are often collectively referred to as the Maghreb, which is the Arabic word for sunset. Egypt lies to the northeast and enco

4.
The first Roman emperor native to North Africa was Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna in present-day Libya.

List of countries by population
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This is a list of countries and dependent territories by population. For instance, the United Kingdom is considered as a single entity while the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are considered separately, in addition, this list includes certain states with limited recognition not found in ISO 3166-1. The population figures do

1.
A map of world population in 2014

Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a mem

1.
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has not adopted the term "demonyn" for these adjectives and nouns

Benin
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Benin, officially the Republic of Benin and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, the majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Benin is

Burkina Faso
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Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Africa around 274,200 square kilometres in size. It is surrounded by six countries, Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, in 2014 its population was estimated at just over 17.3 million. Burkina Faso is a country and French is an official language of governm

1.
The cavalry of the Mossi Kingdoms were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable Mali Empire.

Cape Verde
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Located 570 kilometres off the coast of West Africa, the islands cover a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres. The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 1

Ivory Coast
–
Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Co

The Gambia
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The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its coastline on the Atlantic Ocean at its western end. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa, the Gambia is situated on either side of the Gambia River, the nations namesake, which flows through the centre of The

Ghana
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Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km², Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east, Ghana means Warrior King in the Soninke

Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial

4.
Monument to commemorate the 1970 military victory over the Portuguese raid. The only objective not accomplished by the Portuguese raid was the capture of Ahmed Sékou Touré.

Guinea-Bissau
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Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa. It covers 36,125 square kilometres with a population of 1,704,000. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire, parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were under some rule by the Portug

Mali
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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third l

1.
The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone.

Niger
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Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Niger is bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. Niger covers a area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest country in

1.
Ancient rock engraving showing herds of giraffe, ibex, and other animals in the southern Sahara near Tiguidit, Niger.

3.
Overlooking the town of Zinder and the Sultan's Palace from the French fort (1906). The arrival of the French spelled a sudden end for precolonial states like the Sultanate of Damagaram, which carried on only as ceremonial "chiefs" appointed by the colonial government.

Saint Helena
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It is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 kilometres and has a population of 4,534 and it was named after Saint Helena of Constantinople. The island, one of the most remote islands in the world, was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese in 1502 and it wa

British overseas territory
–
The 14 British Overseas Territories are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of

Senegal
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Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal also borders The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, Senegal also shares a maritime bord

Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Sierra Leone has an area of 71,740 km2. Sierra Leone is divided into four regions, the Northe

Togo
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Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital Lomé is located, Togo covers 57,000 square kilometres, making it one of the smallest countries in Africa, with a population of approximately 7.5

Cameroon
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Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroons coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. French and English are the languages

Algeria
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Algeria, officially the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a sovereign state in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres, Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world, the country is a semi-presidential republic consisti

Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca.

Tunisia
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Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent and it is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisias popu

3.
The Roman amphitheater in El Djem, built during the first half of the 3rd century AD

4.
Domes of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Founded in 670, it dates in its present form largely from the Aghlabid period (9th century). It is the oldest mosque in the Maghreb.

Western Sahara
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Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square kilometres. It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, the population is estimated at just over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. Occupied by Spain until the late 20th century, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non

Mauritania
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Mauritania /mɔːrɪˈteɪniə/, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of western Africa. The country derives its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, approximately 90% of Mauritanias land is within the Sahara and consequently the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is sl

Economic Community of West African States
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The Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS, is a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these comprise an area of 5,114,162 km2. The union was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, a revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993

1.
ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development headquarters in Lome.

Gross domestic product
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Gross Domestic Product is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a period. Nominal GDP estimates are used to determine the economic performance of a whole country or region. The OECD defines GDP as a measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident and institutional units e

1.
Selection of GDP PPP data (top 10 countries and blocks) in no particular order

Purchasing power parity
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Observed deviations of the exchange rate from purchasing power parity are measured by deviations of the real exchange rate from its PPP value of 1. PPP exchange rates help to minimize misleading international comparisons that can arise with the use of exchange rates. For example, suppose that two countries produce the same amounts of goods as each

List of countries by GDP (PPP)
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This article includes a list of countries by their gross domestic product, the value of all final goods and services produced within a state in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, the GDP dollar data given on this page are derived from purchasing power parity calculations. It is h

1.
World Share of GDP (PPP) according to data released by the IMF, October 2014

Cape Verdean escudo
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The escudo is the currency of the Republic of Cape Verde. Amounts are generally written by using the cifrão as the separator, such as 2000 for 20 escudos. The escudo became the currency of Cape Verde in 1914 and it replaced the Cape Verdean real at a rate of 1000 réis =1 escudo. Until 1930, Cape Verde used Portuguese coins, although banknotes were

1.
2000 CVE bill issued in 2006

2.
Current coins

3.
2014: new 1.000 CVE bank note with Codé di Dona (back)

4.
2014: new 1.000 CVE bank note with Codé di Dona (front)

Ghana cedi
–
The Ghanaian cedi is the unit of currency of Ghana. It is the fourth and only legal tender in the Republic of Ghana, one Ghana cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas. After it gained independence Ghana ALISSA separated itself from the British West African pound, the new republics first independent currency was the Ghanaian pound. In 1965, Ghana d

1.
Cedi banknotes

2.
Cedi with a cowry.

3.
5 pesewas

Gambian dalasi
–
The dalasi is the currency of the Gambia. It is subdivided into 100 bututs, the dalasi was adopted in 1971. It replaced the Gambian pound at a rate of 1 pound =5 dalasis, in 1971, coins in denominations of 1,5,10,25 and 50 bututs and 1 dalasi were introduced. The 1 and 5 bututs were struck in bronze while the 10 bututs was brass, all coins of this

1.
25 dalasi note and coins from 5 bututs to 1 dalasi

2.
5, 10, 25, 50 butut coins

3.
Obverse of the 10 and 25 dalasis notes.

Guinean franc
–
The Guinean franc is the currency of Guinea. The first Guinean franc was introduced in 1959 to replace the CFA franc, there were 1,5,10 and 25 francs coins with banknotes in 50,100,500,1000,5000 and 10,000 francs denominations. A second series of banknotes dated 1er MARS1960 was issued on 1 March 1963 and this series was printed without imprint by

1.
5000 franc of the current series

2.
A stack of 5,000 GNF notes compared to 1 USD, 2005

Liberian dollar
–
The dollar has been the currency of Liberia since 1943. It was also the currency between 1847 and 1907. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively L$ or LD$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and it is divided into 100 cents. The first Liberian dollar was issued in 1847 and it was pegged to the US do

1.
19th Century Liberian One dollar.

2.
A current $5 banknote

3.
19th Century Liberian Two dollars.

Saint Helena pound
–
The Saint Helena pound is the currency of the Atlantic islands of Saint Helena and Ascension, which are constituents of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is fixed at parity with the pound sterling and is subdivided into 100 pence, Tristan da Cunha, the third part of the territory, uses Pound sterling

Sierra Leonean leone
–
The leone is the currency of Sierra Leone. It is subdivided into 100 cents, the ISO4217 code is SLL and the leone is abbreviated as Le placed before the amount. The leone was introduced on 4 August 1964 and it replaced the British West African pound at a rate of 1 pound =2 leones. For an earlier Sierra Leone currency, see Sierra Leonean dollar, in

1.
1 leone 1987

West African CFA franc
–
The West African CFA franc is the currency of eight independent states in West Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. These eight countries have a population of 105.7 million people. The acronym CFA stands for Communauté Financière dAfrique or Communauté Financière Africaine, the currency is issued b

1.
Current coins of the West African CFA franc.

Lagos
–
Lagos /ˈleɪɡɒs/ is a city in the Nigerian state of Lagos. The city, with its conurbation, is the largest in Nigeria. It is one of the fastest growing in the world, Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa, the megacity has the highest GDP, and also houses one of the largest and busiest ports on the continent. Due to rapid urbanization, the city

Abidjan
–
Abidjan is the economic capital of Ivory Coast and is one of the most populous French-speaking cities in Africa. According to the 2014 Ivory Coast census, Abidjans population was 4.7 million, considered the cultural crossroads of Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation. The city expanded quickly after

Accra
–
Accra /əˈkrɑː/ is the capital and most populous city of Ghana, with an estimated urban population of 2.27 million as of 2012. It is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolis District, Accra stretches along the Ghanaian Atlantic coast and extends north. Originally built around three different settlements including a po

3.
A contemporary drawing of the Danish empire fort, Fort Christiansborg, now Osu Castle. The outpost to the right is Fort Prøvestenen

4.
A main street of central Accra between 1885 and 1908

Abuja
–
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria located in the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory. It is a city and was built mainly in the 1980s. Abujas geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion, the Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend to the south of th

Kumasi
–
Kumasi is a city in Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is near Lake Bosomtwe, in a rain forest region, Kumasi is approximately 500 kilometres north of the Equator and 200 kilometres north of the Gulf of Guinea. Kumasi is alternatively known as The Garden City because of its many species of flowers. There is

Port Harcourt
–
Port Harcourt is the capital and largest city of Rivers State, Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the Niger Delta, as of 2016, the Port Harcourt urban area has an estimated population of 1,865,000 inhabitants, up from 1,382,592 as of 2006. The area that became Port Harcourt in 1912 was before that part of the farmlands of the

West
–
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the direction from east. The word West is a Germanic word passed into some Romance languages, as is apparent in the Gothic term vasi, it stems from the same Indo-European root that gave the Sanskrit vas-ati and vesper in Latin. To go west using a compass for navigation, one

Africa
–
Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it

Gambia
–
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its coastline on the Atlantic Ocean at its western end. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa, the Gambia is situated on either side of the Gambia River, the nations namesake, which flows through the centre of The

Western Christianity
–
Western Christianity consists of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, and a variety of Protestant denominations. The name has applied in order to distinguish these from Eastern Christianity. Today, the distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute, due to the spread of missionary activities, migrations. The adje

Traditional African religions
–
The traditional beliefs and practices of African people include various traditional religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural, afro-American rel

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
–
Its name was Saint Helena and Dependencies until 1 September 2009, when a new constitution came into force giving the three islands equal status within the territory. Despite this change, the territory is still commonly referred to as simply Saint Helena after its main island. Similarly, the demonym Saint Helenians and the name for the local nation

3.
The top image shows the Safsaf Oasis on the surface of the Sahara. The bottom (using radar) is the rock layer underneath, revealing black channels cut by the meandering of an ancient river that once fed the oasis.

4.
A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the Saharan area.

2.
Diobé, ruler of Bakel, and his advisors: 1887-1888. Bakel, a cosmopolitan Soninke trading town, was a target of French expansion of the mid 19th century. This photograph was taken by members of Colonel Joseph Galliéni campaign to create French protectorates up the Senegal River into modern Mali.

1.
United Nations geoscheme
–
The United Nations geoscheme is a system which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups. It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division based on the M49 coding classification, for instance, UNSD includes Georgia and Cyprus in Western Asia, yet the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and UNESCO include them in Europe. The schema was created for statistical analysis and consists of macro-geographical regions arranged to the extent possible according to continents, within these groupings, smaller, geographical subregions and selected economic and other groupings allow for detailed analysis

United Nations geoscheme
–
The definition of regions and subregions in use by the United Nations for statistical purposes. Antarctica is omitted.

2.
Maghreb
–
The Maghreb, or the Greater Maghreb, is usually defined as much or most of the region of western North Africa or Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. Historical terms for the region or various portions of the Maghreb include Mauretania, Numidia, Libya, the term maghrib is Arabic for west, from the verb gharaba. In the strict sense, the definite form al-maghrib denotes the country of Morocco in particular and it identified the westernmost territories that fell to the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. Today, it is a noun for the present region of the Maghreb. The Berber languages alternative term for the region, Tamazgha, has been popularized by Berber activists since the second half of the 20th century. As recently as the late 19th century it was used to refer to the Western Mediterranean region of coastal North Africa in general, and to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in particular. The region was unified as an independent political entity during the rule of the Berber kingdom of Numidia. The most enduring rule was that of the local Berber empires of the Almoravids, Almohads, Hammadids, Zirids, Marinids, Saadi, the Ottoman Turks ruled the region as well. Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya established the Maghreb Union in 1989 to promote cooperation and it was envisioned initially by Muammar Gaddafi as a superstate. The union included Western Sahara implicitly under Moroccos membership, putting Moroccos long cold war with Algeria to a rest, however, this progress was short-lived, and the union is now frozen. Tensions between Algeria and Morocco over Western Sahara re-emerged strongly, reinforced by the unsolved borderline issue between the two countries and these two main conflicts have hindered progress on the unions joint goals and practically made it inactive as a whole. Around 3,500 BC a tilt in the Earths orbit created a rapid desertification of the Sahara, the Maghreb or western North Africa is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers since from at least 10,000 BC. Maghreb coast ports were predominantly occupied or constructed by the Phoenicians, the main Phoenician settlements centered in the Gulf of Tunis along the North African littoral between the Pillars of Hercules and the Libyan coast east of ancient Cyrenaica. They dominated the trade and intercourse of the Western Mediterranean for centuries, Rome was greatly helped by the defection of King Massinissa and Carthaginians eastern Numidian Massylii client-allies. A century later, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent a force under General Belisarius that succeeded in destroying the Vandal kingdom, the Berbers contested outside-the-area control although after the 640s-700 AD period the Arabs controlled the entire region. The Arabs reached the Maghreb in early Umayyad times, Arab expansion and the spread of Islam pushed the development of trans-Saharan trade. While restricted due to the cost and dangers, the trade was highly profitable, commodities traded included such goods as salt, gold, ivory, and slaves. Arab control over the Maghreb was quite weak, various Islamic variations, such as the Ibadis and the Shia, were adopted by some Berbers, often leading to scorning of Caliphal control in favour of their own interpretation of Islam

3.
North Africa
–
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of Africa. The United Nationss definition of Northern Africa is, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, the countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya are often collectively referred to as the Maghreb, which is the Arabic word for sunset. Egypt lies to the northeast and encompasses part of West Asia, while Sudan is situated on the edge of the Sahel, Egypt is a transcontinental country because of the Sinai Peninsula, which geographically lies in Western Asia. North Africa also includes a number of Spanish possessions, the Canary Islands and Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of the African mainland are included in considerations of the region. From 3500 BC, following the abrupt desertification of the Sahara due to changes in the Earths orbit. The Islamic influence in the area is significant, and North Africa is a major part of the Muslim world. Some researchers have postulated that North Africa rather than East Africa served as the point for the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent in the Out of Africa migration. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia, are part of the mountain system that also runs through much of Southern Europe. They recede to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before meeting the Sahara desert, the sediments of the Sahara overlie an ancient plateau of crystalline rock, some of which is more than four billion years old. Sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta, a wide variety of valuable crops including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork, are grown. Typical Mediterranean crops, such as olives, figs, dates and citrus fruits, the Nile Valley is particularly fertile, and most of the population in Egypt and Sudan live close to the river. Elsewhere, irrigation is essential to improve yields on the desert margins. The inhabitants of Saharan Africa are generally divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa, the Maghreb, the Nile valley. The edge of the Sahel, to the south of Egypt has mainly been inhabited by Nubians, Ancient Egyptians record extensive contact in their Western desert with people that appear to have been Berber or proto-Berber, as well as Nubians from the south. They have contributed to the Arabized Berber populations, the official language or one of the official languages in all of the countries in North Africa is Arabic. The people of the Maghreb and the Sahara regions speak Berber languages and several varieties of Arabic, the Arabic and Berber languages are distantly related, both being members of the Afroasiatic language family. The Tuareg Berber languages are more conservative than those of the coastal cities. Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with cultures, Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Europeans

North Africa
–
Market of Biskra in Algeria, 1899
North Africa
–
Northern Africa (UN subregion)
North Africa
–
The kasbah of Aït Benhaddou in Morocco
North Africa
–
The first Roman emperor native to North Africa was Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna in present-day Libya.

4.
List of countries by population
–
This is a list of countries and dependent territories by population. For instance, the United Kingdom is considered as a single entity while the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are considered separately, in addition, this list includes certain states with limited recognition not found in ISO 3166-1. The population figures do not reflect the practice of countries that report significantly different populations of citizens domestically, some countries, notably Thailand, do not report total population, exclusively counting citizens, for total populations an international agency must issue an estimate. Also given in percent is each countrys population compared to the population of the world, figures used in this chart are based on the most up to date estimate or projections by the national census authority where available, and are usually rounded off. Where updated national data are not available, figures are based on the projections for 2016 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Because the compiled figures are not collected at the time in every country, or at the same level of accuracy. Furthermore, the addition of figures from all countries may not equal the world total, a handful of nations have not conducted a census in over 30 years, providing high error margin estimates only. Areas that form parts of sovereign states, such as the countries of the United Kingdom, are counted as part of the sovereign states concerned. Note, All dependent territories or constituent countries that are parts of states are shown in italics

List of countries by population
–
A map of world population in 2014

5.
Demonym
–
A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above

Demonym
–
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has not adopted the term "demonyn" for these adjectives and nouns

6.
Benin
–
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, the majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometers and its population in 2015 was estimated to be approximately 10.88 million. Benin is a nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment. The official language of Benin is French, however, indigenous languages such as Fon and Yoruba are commonly spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Roman Catholicism, followed closely by Islam, Vodun and this region was referred to as the Slave Coast from as early as the 17th century due to the large number of slaves shipped to the New World during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. After slavery was abolished, France took over the country and renamed it French Dahomey, in 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France, and had a tumultuous period with many different democratic governments, many military coups and military governments. A Marxist–Leninist state called the Peoples Republic of Benin existed between 1975 and 1990, in 1991, it was replaced by the current multi-party Republic of Benin. During the colonial period and at independence, the country was known as Dahomey, on 30 November 1975 it was renamed to Benin, after the body of water on which the country lies—the Bight of Benin—which, in turn, had been named after the Benin Empire. The country of Benin has no connection to Benin City in modern Nigeria, the form Benin is the result of a Portuguese corruption of the city of Ubinu. The new name, Benin, was chosen for its neutrality, the current country of Benin combines three areas which had different political and ethnic systems prior to French colonial control. Before 1700, there were a few important city states along the coast, the situation changed in the 1600s and early 1700s as the Kingdom of Dahomey, which was of Fon ethnicity, was founded on the Abomey plateau and began taking over areas along the coast. The Dahomey Kingdom was known for its culture and traditions, young boys were often apprenticed to older soldiers, and taught the kingdoms military customs until they were old enough to join the army. This emphasis on preparation and achievement earned Dahomey the nickname of black Sparta from European observers. The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery, by about 1750, the King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling Africans to the European slave-traders. Court protocols, which demanded that a portion of war captives from the many battles be decapitated, decreased the number of enslaved people exported from the area. The number went from 102,000 people per decade in the 1780s to 24,000 per decade by the 1860s, the decline was partly due to the banning of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Britain and other countries. This decline continued until 1885, when the last slave ship departed from the coast of the present-day Benin Republic bound for Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, the capitals name Porto-Novo is of Portuguese origin, meaning New Port

7.
Burkina Faso
–
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Africa around 274,200 square kilometres in size. It is surrounded by six countries, Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, in 2014 its population was estimated at just over 17.3 million. Burkina Faso is a country and French is an official language of government. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed Burkina Faso on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara, residents of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabé. Before the conquest of what is now Burkina Faso by the French, after gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes. Blaise Compaoré was the most recent president and ruled the country from 1987 until he was ousted from power by the popular youth upheaval of 31 October 2014 and this resulted in a semi-presidential republic which lasted from October 2014 to September 2015. On 17 September 2015 the provisional government was in turn toppled by an apparent military coup carried out by the Regiment of Presidential Security. On 24 September 2015, after pressure from the African Union, ECOWAS, and the forces, the military junta agreed to step down. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed Burkina Faso on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara, the bé suffix added onto Burkina to form the demonym Burkinabé comes from the Fula language and means men or women. The northwestern part of todays Burkina Faso was populated by hunter-gatherers between 14,000 and 5000 BC and their tools, including scrapers, chisels and arrowheads, were discovered in 1973 through archeological excavations. Agricultural settlements were established between 3600 and 2600 BC, the Bura culture was an Iron-Age civilization centered in the southwest portion of modern-day Niger and in the southeast part of contemporary Burkina Faso. Iron industry, in smelting and forging for tools and weapons, had developed in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BC, historians began to debate about the exact dates when Burkina Fasos many ethnic groups arrived to the area. During the Middle Ages the Mossi established several kingdoms including those of Tenkodogo, Yatenga, Zandoma. Sometime between 1328 and 1338 Mossi warriors raided Timbuktu but the Mossi were defeated by Sonni Ali of Songhai at the Battle of Kobi in Mali in 1483, during the early 16th century the Songhai conducted many slave raids into what is today Burkina Faso. During the 18th century the Gwiriko Empire was established at Bobo Dioulasso and ethnic groups such as the Dyan, Lobi, starting in the early 1890s a series of British, French and German military officers made attempts to claim parts of what is today Burkina Faso. At times these colonialists and their armies fought the local peoples, at times they forged alliances with them, the colonialist officers and their home governments also made treaties amongst themselves. Through a complex series of events what is Burkina Faso eventually became a French protectorate in 1896, the eastern and western regions, where a standoff against the forces of the powerful ruler Samori Ture complicated the situation, came under French occupation in 1897. By 1898, the majority of the corresponding to Burkina Faso was nominally conquered, however

Burkina Faso
–
The cavalry of the Mossi Kingdoms were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable Mali Empire.
Burkina Faso
–
Flag
Burkina Faso
–
Resistance to the French invasion at Bobo-Dioulasso in 1892.
Burkina Faso
–
The capital, Ouagadougou, in 1930

8.
Cape Verde
–
Located 570 kilometres off the coast of West Africa, the islands cover a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres. The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The end of slavery in the 19th century led to economic decline, Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as a department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to agitate for independence. Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a representative democracy. Lacking natural resources, its economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism. Its population of around 512,000 is mostly of mixed European and sub-Saharan African heritage, a sizeable diaspora community exists across the world, slightly outnumbering inhabitants on the islands. Historically, the name Cape Verde has been used in English for the archipelago and, since independence in 1975, for the country. In 2013, the Cape Verdean government determined that the Portuguese designation Cabo Verde would henceforth be used for official purposes, such as at the United Nations, Cape Verde is a member of the African Union. The name of the stems from the nearby Cap-Vert, on the Senegalese coast. In 1444 Portuguese explorers had named that landmark as Cabo Verde, on 24 October 2013, the countrys delegation announced at the United Nations that the official name should no longer be translated into other languages. Instead of Cape Verde, the designation Republic of Cabo Verde is to be used, before the arrival of Europeans, the Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited. The islands of the Cape Verde archipelago were discovered by Genoese and Portuguese navigators around 1456, according to Portuguese official records, the first discoveries were made by Genoa-born António de Noli, who was afterwards appointed governor of Cape Verde by Portuguese King Afonso V. Other navigators mentioned as contributing to discoveries in the Cape Verde archipelago are Diogo Gomes, Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso, in 1462, Portuguese settlers arrived at Santiago and founded a settlement they called Ribeira Grande. Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics, in the 16th century, the archipelago prospered from the Atlantic slave trade. Pirates occasionally attacked the Portuguese settlements, sir Francis Drake, an English corsair privateering under a letter of marque granted by the English crown, twice sacked the capital Ribeira Grande in 1585 when it was a part of the Iberian Union. After a French attack in 1712, the town declined in relative to nearby Praia. Decline in the trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis

9.
Ivory Coast
–
Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Coast, prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their identity through the French colonial period. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boignys rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup détat, in 1999, the first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010-2011. As a result, in 2000, the adopted a new Constitution. Ivory Coast is a republic with an executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was a powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through a crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still heavily on agriculture. The official language is French, with indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast, popular religions include Islam, Christianity, and various indigenous religions. Originally, Portuguese and French merchant-explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries divided the west coast of Africa, very roughly, there was also a Pepper Coast also known as the Grain Coast, a Gold Coast, and a Slave Coast. Like those, the name Ivory Coast reflected the major trade occurred on that particular stretch of the coast. One can find the name Cote de Dents regularly used in older works and it was used in Ducketts Dictionnaire and by Nicolas Villault de Bellefond, for examples, although Antoine François Prévost used Côte dIvoire. In the 19th century, usage switched to Côte dIvoire and it retained the name through French rule and independence in 1960

10.
The Gambia
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The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its coastline on the Atlantic Ocean at its western end. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa, the Gambia is situated on either side of the Gambia River, the nations namesake, which flows through the centre of The Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is 10,689 square kilometres with a population of 1,882,450 at the April 2013 census, Banjul is the Gambian capital, and the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. Later, on 25 May 1765, The Gambia was made a part of the British Empire when the government formally assumed control, in 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara, who ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup. Adama Barrow became The Gambias third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in December 2016 elections, Jammeh initially refused to accept the results, which triggered a constitutional crisis and military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States, resulting in his exile. The Gambias economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially tourism, in 2008, about a third of the population lived below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. The name Gambia is derived from the Mandinka term Kambra/Kambaa, meaning Gambia river, upon independence as a Commonwealth realm, the country used the name The Gambia. Following the proclamation of a republic in 1970, the name of the country became Republic of The Gambia. The administration of Yahya Jammeh changed the name to Islamic Republic of The Gambia in December 2015. On 29 January 2017 the new President Adama Barrow said the name will go back to Republic of The Gambia. Arab traders provided the first written accounts of the Gambia area in the ninth and tenth centuries, during the tenth century, Muslim merchants and scholars established communities in several West African commercial centres. Both groups established trans-Saharan trade routes, leading to an export trade in slaves, gold and ivory. At the beginning of the 14th century, most of what is today called Gambia was part of the Mali Empire, the Portuguese reached this area by sea in the mid-15th century, and began to dominate overseas trade. In 1588, the claimant to the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato, letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I confirmed the grant. In 1618, King James I of England granted a charter to an English company for trade with the Gambia, between 1651 and 1661, some parts of the Gambia were under the rule of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, and were bought by Prince Jacob Kettler. The British Empire occupied the Gambia when an expedition led by Augustus Keppel landed there following the Capture of Senegal in 1758. The 1783 First Treaty of Versailles gave Great Britain possession of the Gambia River and this was finally ceded to the United Kingdom in 1856. As many as three million slaves may have taken from this general region during the three centuries that the transatlantic slave trade operated

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Ghana
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Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km², Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east, Ghana means Warrior King in the Soninke language. The territory of present-day Ghana has been inhabited for a millennium, numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti. Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, following over a century of native resistance, Ghanas current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. On 6 March 1957, it became the first sub-Saharan African nation to become independent of European colonisation, a multicultural nation, Ghana has a population of approximately 27 million, spanning a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. Five percent of the population practices traditional faiths,71. 2% adhere to Christianity and 17. 6% are Muslim and its diverse geography and ecology ranges from coastal savannahs to tropical jungles. Ghana is a country led by a president who is both head of state and head of the government. Ghanas economy is one of the strongest and most diversified in Africa, following a century of relative stability. Ghanas growing economic prosperity and democratic political system have made it a power in West Africa. It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, Group of 24, Ghana was already recognized as one of the great kingdoms in Bilad el-Sudan by the ninth century. Ghana was inhabited in the Middle Ages and the Age of Discovery by a number of ancient predominantly Akan kingdoms in the Southern and this included the Ashanti Empire, the Akwamu, the Bonoman, the Denkyira, and the Mankessim Kingdom. Until the 11th century, the majority of modern Ghanas territorial area was unoccupied and uninhabited by humans. Although the area of present-day Ghana in West Africa has experienced many population movements, by the early 11th century, the Akans were firmly established in the Akan state called Bonoman, for which the Brong-Ahafo Region is named. From the 13th century, Akans emerged from what is believed to have been the Bonoman area, to create several Akan states of Ghana and these states included Bonoman, Ashanti, Denkyira, Mankessim Kingdom, and Akwamu Eastern region. By the 19th century, the territory of the part of Ghana was included in the Kingdom of Ashanti. The Kingdom of Ashanti government operated first as a loose network, prior to Akan contact with Europeans, the Akan Ashanti people created an advanced economy based on principally gold and gold bar commodities then traded with the states of Africa. The earliest known kingdoms to emerge in modern Ghana were the Mole-Dagbani states, the Mole-Dagombas came on horseback from present-day Burkina Faso under a single leader, Naa Gbewaa. The death of Naa Gbewaa caused civil war among his children, some of whom broke off and founded separate states including Dagbon, Mamprugu, Mossi, Nanumba, Akan trade with European states began after contact with Portuguese in the 15th century

12.
Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms

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Samori Ture was the founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic state in present-day Guinea that resisted French colonial rule in West Africa from 1882 until Ture's capture in 1898.
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President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by the Communist bloc states and in 1961 visited Yugoslavia.
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Monument to commemorate the 1970 military victory over the Portuguese raid. The only objective not accomplished by the Portuguese raid was the capture of Ahmed Sékou Touré.

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Guinea-Bissau
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Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa. It covers 36,125 square kilometres with a population of 1,704,000. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire, parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were under some rule by the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. In the 19th century, it was colonized as Portuguese Guinea, upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the countrys name to prevent confusion with Guinea. Guinea-Bissau has a history of instability since independence, and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term. Only 14% of the population speaks Portuguese, established as the language in the colonial period. Almost half the population speaks Crioulo, a Portuguese-based creole language, the main religions are African traditional religions and Islam, there is a Christian minority. The countrys per-capita gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world, Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, part of the Mali Empire, parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century. Other parts of the territory in the current country were considered by the Portuguese as part of their empire, Portuguese Guinea was known as the Slave Coast, as it was a major area for the exportation of African slaves by Europeans to the western hemisphere. Early reports of Europeans reaching this area include those of the Venetian Alvise Cadamostos voyage of 1455, the 1479–1480 voyage by Flemish-French trader Eustache de la Fosse, and Diogo Cão. In the 1480s this Portuguese explorer reached the Congo River and the lands of Bakongo, setting up the foundations of modern Angola, some 4200 km down the African coast from Guinea-Bissau. The local African rulers in Guinea, some of whom prospered greatly from the trade, controlled the inland trade. They kept them in the coastal settlements where the trading took place. African communities that fought back against slave traders also distrusted European adventurers, the Portuguese in Guinea were largely restricted to the port of Bissau and Cacheu. A small number of European settlers established isolated farms along Bissaus inland rivers, for a brief period in the 1790s, the British tried to establish a rival foothold on an offshore island, at Bolama. But by the 19th century the Portuguese were sufficiently secure in Bissau to regard the neighbouring coastline as their own special territory, cuba also agreed to supply artillery experts, doctors, and technicians. The PAIGC even managed to acquire a significant anti-aircraft capability in order to defend itself against aerial attack, by 1973, the PAIGC was in control of many parts of Guinea, although the movement suffered a setback in January 1973 when Cabral was assassinated. Independence was unilaterally declared on 24 September 1973, recognition became universal following 25 April 1974 socialist-inspired military coup in Portugal, which overthrew Lisbons Estado Novo regime

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Mali
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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. A majority of the population are Muslims, present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, at its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegals withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. In January 2012, a conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of by April and declared the secession of a new state. The conflict was complicated by a coup that took place in March. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched Opération Serval in January 2013, a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second round held on 11 August. The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, the name was originally derived from the Mandinka or Bambara word mali, meaning “hippopotamus”, but it eventually came to mean the place where the king lives. The word carries the connotation of strength, D. Niane suggests in Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali that it is not impossible that Mali was the name given to one of the capitals of the emperors. 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the Mali Empire was indeed called Mali and this name could have formerly been that of a city. In old Mali there is one village called Malikoma which means “New Mali. ”Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment /nd/ shifts to /l/, Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities

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The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone.
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Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890.
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Cotton being processed in Niono into 180 kg (400 lb) bales for export to other parts of Africa and to France, c. 1950.

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Niger
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Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Niger is bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. Niger covers a area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest country in West Africa. The countrys predominantly Islamic population of about 19 million is mostly clustered in the far south, the capital city is Niamey, located in the far-southwest corner of Niger. Niger is a country, and is consistently one of the lowest-ranked in the United Nations Human Development Index. Much of the portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the fertile south. Nigerien society reflects a diversity drawn from the long independent histories of its ethnic groups and regions. Historically, what is now Niger has been on the fringes of large states. Since independence, Nigeriens have lived under five constitutions and three periods of military rule, following a military coup in 2010, Niger has become a democratic, multi-party state. A majority live in areas, and have little access to advanced education. Early human settlement in Niger is evidenced by archaeological remains. In prehistoric times, the climate of the Sahara was wet and provided favorable conditions for agriculture, in 2005–06, a graveyard in the Tenere desert was discovered by Paul Sereno, a paleontologist from the University of Chicago. His team discovered 5, 000-year-old remains of a woman and two children in the Tenere Desert, the evidence along with remains of animals that do not typically live in desert are among the strongest evidence of the green Sahara in Niger. It is believed that progressive desertification around 5000 BCE pushed sedentary populations to the south and south-east. By at least the 5th century BCE, Niger became an area of trade, led by the Berber tribes from the north. This trade has made Agadez a pivotal place of the trans-Saharan trade and this mobility, which would continue in waves for several centuries, was accompanied with further migration to the south and interbreeding between southern black and northern white populations. It was also aided by the introduction of Islam to the region at the end of the 7th century, several empires and kingdoms also flourished during this era up to the beginning of colonization in Africa

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Ancient rock engraving showing herds of giraffe, ibex, and other animals in the southern Sahara near Tiguidit, Niger.
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Overlooking the town of Zinder and the Sultan's Palace from the French fort (1906). The arrival of the French spelled a sudden end for precolonial states like the Sultanate of Damagaram, which carried on only as ceremonial "chiefs" appointed by the colonial government.
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The Kaouar escarpment, forming an oasis in the Ténéré desert.

16.
Saint Helena
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It is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 kilometres and has a population of 4,534 and it was named after Saint Helena of Constantinople. The island, one of the most remote islands in the world, was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese in 1502 and it was an important stopover for ships sailing to Europe from Asia and South Africa for centuries. Napoleon was imprisoned there in exile by the British, as were Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, between 1791 and 1833, Saint Helena became the site of a series of experiments in conservation, reforestation and attempts to boost rainfall artificially. This environmental intervention was closely linked to the conceptualisation of the processes of environmental change, Saint Helena is Britains second-oldest remaining overseas territory after Bermuda. The Portuguese found the island uninhabited, with an abundance of trees and they imported livestock, fruit trees and vegetables, and built a chapel and one or two houses. Englishman Sir Francis Drake probably located the island on the leg of his circumnavigation of the world. In developing their Far East trade, the Dutch also began to frequent the island, the Dutch Republic formally made claim to Saint Helena in 1633, although there is no evidence that they ever occupied, colonized, or fortified it. By 1651, the Dutch had mainly abandoned the island in favour of their colony at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1657, Oliver Cromwell granted the English East India Company a charter to govern Saint Helena and, the following year, the first governor Captain John Dutton arrived in 1659, making Saint Helena one of Britains oldest colonies outside North America and the Caribbean. A fort and houses were built, after the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, the East India Company received a royal charter giving it the sole right to fortify and colonise the island. The fort was renamed James Fort and the town Jamestown, in honour of the Duke of York, between January and May 1673, the Dutch East India Company forcibly took the island, before English reinforcements restored English East India Company control. The company experienced difficulty attracting new immigrants, and sentiments of unrest, a census in 1723 recorded 1,110 people, including 610 slaves. The island enjoyed a period of prosperity from about 1770. Captain James Cook visited the island in 1775 on the leg of his second circumnavigation of the world. St. James Church was erected in Jamestown in 1774, the site of this telescope is near Saint Mathews Church in Hutts Gate in the Longwood district. The 680-metre high hill there is named for him and is called Halleys Mount, throughout this period, Saint Helena was an important port of call of the East India Company. East Indiamen would stop there on the leg of their voyages to British India

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A View of the Town and Island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to the English East India Company, engraving, c. 1790.
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Napoleon at Saint-Helene by Francois-Joseph Sandmann
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Longwood House (photographed June 1970)

17.
British overseas territory
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The 14 British Overseas Territories are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of the European Union, though the Cyprus SBAs are subject to EU law and use the Euro. Most of the territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence. The rest are either uninhabited or have a population of military or scientific personnel. They share the British monarch as head of state, the term British Overseas Territory was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, replacing the term British Dependent Territory, introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981. Prior to 1 January 1983, the territories were referred to as British Crown Colonies. With the exceptions of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Territories retain permanent civilian populations. Permanent residency for the 7,000 or so living in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri. Collectively, the Territories encompass a population of about 250,000 people, the vast majority of this,660,000 square miles, constitutes the British Antarctic Territory. The current minister responsible for the Territories excluding the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas is Baroness Anelay, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, the other three territories are the responsibility of Sir Alan Duncan MP, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas. The first, unofficial, colony was Newfoundland, where English fishermen routinely set up camps in the 16th century. It is now a province of Canada known as Newfoundland and Labrador and it retains strong cultural ties with Britain. English colonisation of North America began officially in 1607 with the settlement of Jamestown, st. Georges town, founded in Bermuda in that year, remains the oldest continuously inhabited British settlement in the New World. Bermuda and Bermudians have played important, sometimes pivotal, but generally underestimated or unacknowledged roles in the shaping of the English and British trans-Atlantic Empires. These include maritime commerce, settlement of the continent and of the West Indies, separate self-governing colonies federated to become Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Rhodesia. These and other large self-governing colonies had become known as Dominions by the 1920s, the Dominions achieved almost full independence with the Statute of Westminster. Through a process of following the Second World War, most of the British colonies in Africa, Asia

British overseas territory
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Tristan da Cunha on 6 February 2013, as seen from space. The population was temporarily evacuated to the UK in 1961 because of an eruption. Postal code TDCU 1ZZ
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Coastline at Little Bay, the site of the new capital of Montserrat replacing Plymouth. The project is funded by the UK's Department for International Development.

18.
Senegal
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Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal also borders The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegals economic and political capital is Dakar and it is the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Afro-Eurasia, and owes its name to the Senegal River, which borders it to the east and north. The name Senegal comes from the Wolof Sunuu Gaal, which means Our Boat, Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of about 15 million. The climate is Sahelian, but there is a rainy season, the territory of modern Senegal has been inhabited by various ethnic groups since prehistory. Organized kingdoms emerged around the century, and parts of the country were ruled by prominent regional empires such as the Jolof Empire. The present state of Senegal has its roots in European colonialism, which began during the mid-15th century, the establishment of coastal trading posts gradually led to control of the mainland, culminating in French rule of the area by the 19th century, albeit amid much local resistance. Senegal peacefully attained independence from France in 1960, and has since been among the politically stable countries in Africa. Senegals economy is centered mostly on commodities and natural resources, major industries are fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials, and ship construction and repair. As in most African nations, agriculture is a sector, with Senegal producing several important cash crops, including peanuts, sugarcane, cotton, green beans, tomatoes, melons. Owing to its stability, tourism and hospitality are also burgeoning sectors. A multiethnic and secular nation, Senegal is predominantly Sunni Muslim with Sufi, French is the official language, although many native languages are spoken and recognized. Since April 2012 Senegals president has been Macky Sall, Senegal has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie since 1970. Senegal is named after the Senegal River, the etymology of which is contested, one popular theory is that it stems from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal, which means our canoe, resulting from a miscommunication between 15th-century Portuguese sailors and Wolof fishermen. The our canoe theory has been embraced in modern Senegal for its charm. It is frequently used in appeals to national solidarity, frequently heard in the media, modern historians believe the name probably refers to the Sanhaja, Berbers who lived on the northern side of the river. A competing theory is that it derives from the town of Sanghana

19.
Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Sierra Leone has an area of 71,740 km2. Sierra Leone is divided into four regions, the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area. Freetown, located in the Western Area, is the capital, largest city and its economic, Bo is the second largest city, and is located in the Southern Province, about 160 miles from Freetown. Kenema, located in the Eastern Province, is the third largest city and is about 185 miles from Freetown, Koidu Town, located in the Eastern Province, is the fourth largest city, and is about 275 miles from Freetown. Makeni, located in the Northern Province, is the fifth largest of Sierra Leone five major cities, Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. The current constitution of Sierra Leone was adopted in 1991 during the presidency of Joseph Saidu Momoh, since independent to present, Sierra Leone politics has been dominated by two major political parties, the Sierra Leone Peoples party and the All Peoples congress. The current president of SIerra Leone is Ernest Bai Koroma, a member of the APC party, the previous Sierra Leone president was Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, a member of the SLPP party, who was elected president in 1996 and won reelection for his final term in 2002. From 1991 to 2002, the Sierra Leone civil war was fought and this proxy war left more than 50,000 people dead, much of the countrys infrastructure destroyed, and over two million people displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2002, then Sierra Leones president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, fulfilled his promise by ending the civil war, with help by the British Government, ECOWAS. More recently, the 2014 Ebola outbreak overburdened the weak healthcare infrastructure and it created a humanitarian crisis situation and a negative spiral of weaker economic growth. The country has a low life expectancy at 57.8 years. About sixteen ethnic groups inhabit Sierra Leone, each with its own language, the two largest and most influential are the Temne and the Mende people. The Temne are predominantly found in the north of the country, the Krio language unites all the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other. Sierra Leone is a predominantly Muslim country, though with an influential Christian minority, Sierra Leone is regarded as one of the most religiously tolerant nations in the world. Muslims and Christians collaborate and interact with each other peacefully, religious violence is extremely rare in the country. In politics, the majority of Sierra Leoneans vote for a candidate without regard to whether the candidate is a Muslim or a Christian

20.
Togo
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Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital Lomé is located, Togo covers 57,000 square kilometres, making it one of the smallest countries in Africa, with a population of approximately 7.5 million. From the 11th to the 16th century, various tribes entered the region from all directions. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the region was a major trading center for Europeans to search for slaves, earning Togo. In 1884, Germany declared Togoland a protectorate, after World War I, rule over Togo was transferred to France. Togo gained its independence from France in 1960, in 1967, Gnassingbé Eyadéma led a successful military coup détat after which he became president. At the time of his death in 2005, Gnassingbé was the leader in modern African history. In 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbé was elected president, Togo is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with a climate that provides good growing seasons. The official language is French, with other languages spoken in Togo. The largest religious group in Togo consists of those with indigenous beliefs, Togo is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, La Francophonie and Economic Community of West African States. Archaeological finds indicate that ancient tribes were able to produce pottery and that name Togo is translated from Ewe language language as land where lagoons lie. Not much is known of the period before arrival of the Portuguese in 1490, during the period from the 11th century to the 16th century, various tribes entered the region from all directions, the Ewé from the east, and the Mina and Guin from the west. Most of them settled in coastal areas, in 1884, a treaty was signed at Togoville with the King Mlapa III, whereby Germany claimed a protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast and gradually extended its control inland. Its borders were defined after the capture of hinterland by German forces and signing agreements with France, in 1905, this became the German colony of Togoland. The local population was forced to work, cultivate cotton, coffee and cocoa, a railway and the port of Lomé were built for export of agricultural products. The Germans introduced modern techniques of cultivation of cocoa, coffee and cotton, during the First World War, Togoland was invaded by Britain and France, proclaiming the Anglo-French condominium. On 7 December 1916 the condominium collapsed and Togo was divided into British,20 July 1922 Great Britain received the League of Nations mandate to govern the western part of Togo and France to govern the eastern part. In 1945, the received the right to send three representatives to the French parliament

21.
Cameroon
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Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroons coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. French and English are the languages of Cameroon. The country is referred to as Africa in miniature for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, the country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad, portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões, which became Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the United Kingdom as League of Nations mandates, the Union des Populations du Cameroun political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the 1950s, leading to the Cameroonian Independence War. It waged war on French and UPC militant forces until 1971, in 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons federated with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon, the federation was abandoned in 1972. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972, Cameroon enjoys relatively high political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president since 1982, Paul Biya. The English-speaking territories of Cameroon have grown increasingly alienated from the government, politicians and civil society in English-speaking regions have called for greater decentralization and even complete separation or independence from the former French-governed territories. The territory of present-day Cameroon was first settled during the Neolithic Era, the longest continuous inhabitants are groups such as the Baka. From here, Bantu migrations into eastern, southern, and central Africa are believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago, the Sao culture arose around Lake Chad c. AD500 and gave way to the Kanem and its successor state, kingdoms, fondoms, and chiefdoms arose in the west. Portuguese sailors reached the coast in 1472 and they noted an abundance of the ghost shrimp Lepidophthalmus turneranus in the Wouri River and named it Rio dos Camarões, which became Cameroon in English

22.
Algeria
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Algeria, officially the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a sovereign state in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres, Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world, the country is a semi-presidential republic consisting of 48 provinces and 1,541 communes. Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been President since 1999, Berbers are the indigenous inhabitants of Algeria. Algeria is a regional and middle power, the North African country supplies large amounts of natural gas to Europe, and energy exports are the backbone of the economy. According to OPEC Algeria has the 16th largest oil reserves in the world, Sonatrach, the national oil company, is the largest company in Africa. Algeria has one of the largest militaries in Africa and the largest defence budget on the continent, most of Algerias weapons are imported from Russia, with whom they are a close ally. Algeria is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, OPEC, the countrys name derives from the city of Algiers. The citys name in turn derives from the Arabic al-Jazāir, a form of the older Jazāir Banī Mazghanna. In the region of Ain Hanech, early remnants of hominid occupation in North Africa were found, neanderthal tool makers produced hand axes in the Levalloisian and Mousterian styles similar to those in the Levant. Algeria was the site of the highest state of development of Middle Paleolithic Flake tool techniques, tools of this era, starting about 30,000 BC, are called Aterian. The earliest blade industries in North Africa are called Iberomaurusian and this industry appears to have spread throughout the coastal regions of the Maghreb between 15,000 and 10,000 BC. Neolithic civilization developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghreb perhaps as early as 11,000 BC or as late as between 6000 and 2000 BC and this life, richly depicted in the Tassili nAjjer paintings, predominated in Algeria until the classical period. The amalgam of peoples of North Africa coalesced eventually into a native population that came to be called Berbers. These settlements served as market towns as well as anchorages, as Carthaginian power grew, its impact on the indigenous population increased dramatically. Berber civilization was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, by the early 4th century BC, Berbers formed the single largest element of the Carthaginian army. In the Revolt of the Mercenaries, Berber soldiers rebelled from 241 to 238 BC after being unpaid following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. They succeeded in obtaining control of much of Carthages North African territory, the Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars

23.
Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco

24.
Tunisia
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Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent and it is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisias population was estimated to be just under 11 million in 2014, Tunisias name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on Tunisias northeast coast. Geographically, Tunisia contains the end of the Atlas Mountains. Much of the rest of the land is fertile soil. Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic and it is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World. It has a human development index. In addition, Tunisia is also a state of the United Nations. Close relations with Europe – in particular with France and with Italy – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation, in ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC, these immigrants founded Carthage, a major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the eight hundred years, introduced Christianity. After several attempts starting in 647, the Arabs conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697, the Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years. The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881, Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014, and for President on 23 November 2014. The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis, an urban hub. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, the French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications, introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages remained untouched, such as the Russian Туни́с and Spanish Túnez, in this case, the same name is used for both country and city, as with the Arabic تونس, and only by context can one tell the difference. The name Tunis can be attributed to different origins and it is generally associated with the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ, transcribed tns, which means to lay down or encampment

Tunisia
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Ancient ruins of a Roman villa at Carthage
Tunisia
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Flag
Tunisia
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The Roman amphitheater in El Djem, built during the first half of the 3rd century AD
Tunisia
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Domes of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Founded in 670, it dates in its present form largely from the Aghlabid period (9th century). It is the oldest mosque in the Maghreb.

25.
Western Sahara
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Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square kilometres. It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, the population is estimated at just over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. Occupied by Spain until the late 20th century, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand and it is the most populous territory on that list, and by far the largest in area. In 1965, the UN General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, one year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination. In 1975, Spain relinquished the control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco. A war erupted between those countries and a Sahrawi nationalist movement, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic with a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the representative of the Sahrawi people. As of 2017, no member state of the United Nations has ever recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. However, a number of countries have expressed their support for a recognition of the Moroccan annexation of the territory as an autonomous part of the Kingdom. Overall, the annexation has not garnered as much attention in the community as many other disputed annexations. Internationally, countries such as Russia have taken a generally ambiguous and neutral position on each sides claims, both Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating formal recognition, essentially from African, Asian, and Latin American states in the developing world. The Polisario Front has won recognition for SADR from 37 states. Morocco has won recognition or support for its position from several African governments and from most of the Muslim world, in both instances, recognitions have, over the past two decades, been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends. Western Sahara is located in Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and it also borders Algeria to the northeast. The land is some of the most arid and inhospitable on the planet, the land along the coast is low, flat desert and rises, especially in the north, to small mountains reaching up to 600 metres on the eastern side. While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams, at times a cool off-shore current can produce fog and heavy dew. The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were the Gaetuli, depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes

Western Sahara
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Commemoration of the 30th independence day from Spain in the Liberated Territories (2005)
Western Sahara
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Western Sahara الصحراء الغربية aṣ-Ṣaḥrā’ al-Gharbīyah Sahara Occidental Taneẓroft Tutrimt
Western Sahara
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North Western Sahara landscape.
Western Sahara
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Dakhla Bay, near Dakhla.

26.
Mauritania
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Mauritania /mɔːrɪˈteɪniə/, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of western Africa. The country derives its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, approximately 90% of Mauritanias land is within the Sahara and consequently the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast, the government was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup détat led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, about 20% of Mauritanians live on less than US$1.25 per day. Mauritania suffers from several human rights issues, including slavery, as at least 4% of the population are enslaved against their will, the Bafours were primarily agriculturalist, and among the first Saharan people to abandon their historically nomadic lifestyle. With the gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they headed south, many of the Berber tribes claimed Yemeni origins. There is little evidence to such claims, but a 2000 DNA study of Yemeni people suggested there might be some ancient connection between the peoples. Other peoples also migrated south past the Sahara to West Africa, in 1076, Moorish Islamic warrior monks attacked and conquered the large area of the ancient Ghana Empire. Over the next 500 years, Arabs overcame fierce resistance from the population to dominate Mauritania. The Char Bouba war was the final effort of the peoples to repel the Yemeni Maqil Arab invaders. The invaders were led by the Beni Hassan tribe, the descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society. Hassaniya, a Berber-influenced Arabic dialect that derives its name from the Beni Hassan, berbers retained a niche influence by producing the majority of the regions marabouts, those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition. Imperial France gradually absorbed the territories of present-day Mauritania from the Senegal River area and upwards, in 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial mission. Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawiya tribes, and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend French rule over the Mauritanian emirates. Trarza, Brakna and Tagant quickly submitted to treaties with the colonial power, Adrar was finally defeated militarily in 1912, and incorporated into the territory of Mauritania, which had been drawn up and planned in 1904. Mauritania was part of French West Africa from 1920, French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery and an end to inter-clan warfare. During the colonial period, 90% of the population remained nomadic, many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. After gaining independence, larger numbers of indigenous Sub-Saharan African peoples entered Mauritania, educated in French language and customs, many of these recent arrivals became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state

Mauritania
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The Dutch trading post of Arguin in 1665
Mauritania
Mauritania
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Chinguetti was a center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa.
Mauritania
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Road from Nouakchott to the Mauritanian–Senegalese border

27.
Economic Community of West African States
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The Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS, is a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these comprise an area of 5,114,162 km2. The union was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, a revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993 in Cotonou. In recent years these included interventions in Ivory Coast in 2003, Liberia in 2003, Guinea-Bissau in 2012, Mali in 2013, established in 1994 and intended to counterbalance the dominance of English-speaking economies in the bloc, members of UEMOA are mostly former territories of French West Africa. The currency they all use is the CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro, the West African Monetary Zone, established in 2000, comprises six mainly English-speaking countries within ECOWAS which plan to work towards adopting their own common currency, the eco. A few members of the organization have come and gone over the years, in 1976 Cape Verde joined ECOWAS, and in December 2000 Mauritania withdrew, having announced its intention to do so in December 1999. In 2011, ECOWAS adopted its development blueprint for the decade, Vision 2020, and, to accompany it. As of February 2017 ECOWAS has 15 member states, eight of these are French-speaking, five are English-speaking, all current members joined the community as founding members in May 1975, except Cape Verde which joined in 1977. Statistics for population, nominal GDP and purchase price parity GDP listed below are taken from World Bank estimates for 2015, area data is taken from a 2012 report compiled by the United Nations Statistics Division. The ECOWAS nations assigned a non-aggression protocol in 1990 along with two earlier agreements in 1978 and 1981. They also signed a Protocol on Mutual Defence Assistance in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 29 May 1981, the Community Parliament consists of 115 members, distributed based on the population of each member state. This body is headed by the Speaker of the Parliament, who is above the Secretary General, for the third time since its inception in 1975, ECOWAS is undergoing institutional reforms. The first was when it revised its treaty on 24 July 1993, however, the Court did not officially begin operations until the 1991 protocol came into effect on 5 November 1996. The jurisdiction of the court is outlined in Article 9 and Articles 76 of the Revised Treaty and it also provides the ECOWAS Council with advisory opinions on legal issues. Like its companion courts the European Court of Human Rights and East African Court of Justice, it has jurisdiction to rule on fundamental human rights breaches. ECOWAS nations organize an array of cultural and sports event under the auspices of the body, including the CEDEAO Cup in football, the 2012 ECOWAS Games. It was established to promote economic integration among countries that share the CFA franc as a common currency. UEMOA was created by a Treaty signed at Dakar, Senegal, on 10 January 1994, by the heads of state and governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte dIvoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo

Economic Community of West African States
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ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development headquarters in Lome.
Economic Community of West African States

28.
Gross domestic product
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Gross Domestic Product is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a period. Nominal GDP estimates are used to determine the economic performance of a whole country or region. The OECD defines GDP as a measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident and institutional units engaged in production. ”An IMF publication states that GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services - that is. Total GDP can also be broken down into the contribution of industry or sector of the economy. The ratio of GDP to the population of the region is the per capita GDP. William Petty came up with a concept of GDP to defend landlords against unfair taxation during warfare between the Dutch and the English between 1652 and 1674. Charles Davenant developed the method further in 1695, the modern concept of GDP was first developed by Simon Kuznets for a US Congress report in 1934. In this report, Kuznets warned against its use as a measure of welfare, after the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, GDP became the main tool for measuring a countrys economy. The switch from GNP to GDP in the US was in 1991, the history of the concept of GDP should be distinguished from the history of changes in ways of estimating it. The value added by firms is relatively easy to calculate from their accounts, but the value added by the sector, by financial industries. GDP can be determined in three ways, all of which should, in principle, give the same result and they are the production approach, the income approach, or the expenditure approach. The most direct of the three is the approach, which sums the outputs of every class of enterprise to arrive at the total. The income approach works on the principle that the incomes of the factors must be equal to the value of their product. This approach mirrors the OECD definition given above, deduct intermediate consumption from gross value to obtain the gross value added. Gross value added = gross value of output – value of intermediate consumption, value of output = value of the total sales of goods and services plus value of changes in the inventories. The sum of the value added in the various economic activities is known as GDP at factor cost. GDP at factor cost plus indirect taxes less subsidies on products = GDP at producer price, for measuring output of domestic product, economic activities are classified into various sectors. Subtracting each sectors intermediate consumption from gross output gives the GDP at factor cost, adding indirect tax minus subsidies in GDP at factor cost gives the GDP at producer prices

29.
Purchasing power parity
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Observed deviations of the exchange rate from purchasing power parity are measured by deviations of the real exchange rate from its PPP value of 1. PPP exchange rates help to minimize misleading international comparisons that can arise with the use of exchange rates. For example, suppose that two countries produce the same amounts of goods as each other in each of two different years. But if one countrys GDP is converted into the countrys currency using PPP exchange rates instead of observed market exchange rates. The idea originated with the School of Salamanca in the 16th century, the best-known purchasing power adjustment is the Geary–Khamis dollar. The real exchange rate is equal to the nominal exchange rate. If purchasing power parity held exactly, then the exchange rate would always equal one. However, in practice the exchange rates exhibit both short run and long run deviations from this value, for example due to reasons illuminated in the Balassa–Samuelson theorem. There can be marked differences between purchasing power adjusted incomes and those converted via market exchange rates. This discrepancy has large implications, for instance, when converted via the exchange rates GDP per capita in India is about US$1,965 while on a PPP basis it is about US$7,197. At the other extreme, Denmarks nominal GDP per capita is around US$62,100, the purchasing power parity exchange rate serves two main functions. PPP exchange rates can be useful for making comparisons between countries because they stay fairly constant from day to day or week to week and only change modestly, if at all, from year to year. The PPP exchange-rate calculation is controversial because of the difficulties of finding comparable baskets of goods to compare purchasing power across countries, people in different countries typically consume different baskets of goods. It is necessary to compare the cost of baskets of goods and this is a difficult task because purchasing patterns and even the goods available to purchase differ across countries. Thus, it is necessary to make adjustments for differences in the quality of goods, furthermore, the basket of goods representative of one economy will vary from that of another, Americans eat more bread, Chinese more rice. Hence a PPP calculated using the US consumption as a base will differ from that calculated using China as a base, additional statistical difficulties arise with multilateral comparisons when more than two countries are to be compared. Various ways of averaging bilateral PPPs can provide a stable multilateral comparison. These are all issues of indexing, as with other price indices there is no way to reduce complexity to a single number that is equally satisfying for all purposes

30.
List of countries by GDP (PPP)
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This article includes a list of countries by their gross domestic product, the value of all final goods and services produced within a state in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, the GDP dollar data given on this page are derived from purchasing power parity calculations. It is however limited when measuring financial flows between countries, PPP is often used to gauge global poverty thresholds and is used by the United Nations in constructing the human development index. These surveys such as the International Comparison Program include both tradable and non-tradable goods in an attempt to estimate a representative basket of all goods. The first table includes estimates for the year 2016, for all current 187 International Monetary Fund members, as well as Hong Kong, data are in millions of international dollars and were calculated by the IMF. Figures were published in April 2015, the second table includes data mostly for the year 2015 for 180 of the 193 current United Nations member states, as well as the two Chinese Special Administrative Regions. Data are in billions of dollars and were compiled by the World Bank. The third table is a tabulation of the CIA World Factbook Gross Domestic Product data update of 2016, the data for GDP at purchasing power parity have also been rebased using the new International Comparison Program price surveys and extrapolated to 2007. Click on one of the triangles in the headings to re-order the list according to that category. ^a Chinas PPP is based on prices for 11 administrative regions, extrapolated to the country. Chinas entry does not include the two administrative regions, namely Hong Kong and Macau. List of Muslim Countries by GDP Purchasing Power Parity at Materia Islamica

List of countries by GDP (PPP)
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World Share of GDP (PPP) according to data released by the IMF, October 2014

31.
Cape Verdean escudo
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The escudo is the currency of the Republic of Cape Verde. Amounts are generally written by using the cifrão as the separator, such as 2000 for 20 escudos. The escudo became the currency of Cape Verde in 1914 and it replaced the Cape Verdean real at a rate of 1000 réis =1 escudo. Until 1930, Cape Verde used Portuguese coins, although banknotes were issued by the Banco Nacional Ultramarino specifically for Cape Verde beginning in 1865, until independence in 1975, the Cape Verde escudo was equal to the Portuguese escudo. Subsequently it depreciated, declining by about 30 per cent in 1977-8, thereafter, it remained fairly stable against the Portuguese escudo. In mid-1998 an agreement with Portugal established a rate of 1 Portuguese escudo =0.55 Cape Verdean escudo. Since the replacement of the Portuguese escudo with the euro, the Cape Verdean escudo has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 1 euro = 110$265 and this peg is supported by a credit facility from the Portuguese government. Under Portuguese rule, coins were introduced in 1930 in denominations of 5,10,20 and 50 centavos and 1 escudo, the 5,10 and 20 centavos were struck in bronze whilst the 50 centavos and 1 escudo were in nickel-bronze. In 1953, bronze 1 escudo, nickel-bronze 2½ escudos and silver 10 escudos were introduced, followed by bronze 50 centavos, after independence, coins were issued in 1977 in denominations of 20 and 50 centavos,1, 2½,10,20 and 50 escudos. The centavo coins were aluminium, the 1 and 2½ escudos were nickel-bronze, as inflation persisted the centavo coins progressively disappeared from circulation and by the time the coinage was revamped the 1 escudo coin was the smallest in circulation. The present coinage was introduced in 1994, the smallest was a brass-plated-steel 1 escudo, though the 1 escudo doesnt circulate well and vendors tend to round to the nearest five in practice. This coin comes in one style, featuring a sea turtle, while the other denominations came with three topical styles. These are the copper-plated-steel 5 escudos, nickel-plated-steel 10,20 and 50 escudos, the three congruent design series had one featuring native animals, the second was of historical ships with their names included, and the last was of native plants and ferns. Heptagonal 200 escudo coins have been issued in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of FAO and 20 years of independence, another 200 escudo coin, this time round was issued in 2005 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of independence. Circulation of the 200 escudo coin is not quite as widespread as the other denominations, in 1914, the Banco Nacional Ultramarino introduced notes in denominations of 4,5,10,20 and 50 centavos. In 1921, notes for 1,5,10,20,50 and 100 escudos were issued, the next series of notes, introduced in 1945, omitted all denominations below 5 escudos and included 500 escudo notes. 10 escudo notes were replaced by coins in 1953, with the 5 escudo note also withdrawn, after independence on 5 July 1975, notes were issued for 100,500, and 1000 escudos on 1 July 1977. The next series of notes was introduced in 1989 and consisted of 100,200,500,1000 and 2500 escudos, the third series was introduced in 1992 in denominations of 200,500,1000, with the addition in 1999 of 2000 and 5000 escudo notes

32.
Ghana cedi
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The Ghanaian cedi is the unit of currency of Ghana. It is the fourth and only legal tender in the Republic of Ghana, one Ghana cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas. After it gained independence Ghana ALISSA separated itself from the British West African pound, the new republics first independent currency was the Ghanaian pound. In 1965, Ghana decided to leave the British colonial monetary system, the African name Cedi was introduced in place of the old British pound system. Ghanas first President Kwame Nkrumah introduced Cedi notes and Pesewa coins in July 1965 to replace the Ghanaian pounds, shillings, the cedi was equivalent to eight shillings and four pence and bore the portrait of the President. After the February 14,1966 military coup, the new leaders wanted to remove the face of Nkrumah from the banknotes, the new cedi was worth 1.2 cedi which made it equal to half of a pound sterling at its introduction. After decades of inflation had devalued the new cedi, it was gradually phased out in 2007 in favor of the Ghana cedi at an exchange rate of 1,10,000. In 2007 the largest of the new banknotes, the 20,000 note, had a value of about US$2. By removing four digits the Ghana cedi became the currency unit issued in Africa. It has since lost about 75% of its value, the word cedi is the Akan word for cowry shell which were formerly used as currency in what is now Ghana. The Monetaria moneta or money cowry is not native to West African waters but is a species in the Indian Ocean. The porcelain-like shells came to West Africa, beginning in the 14th century, the shells became an important currency in the slave trade. The first modern coins exclusively used at the Gold Coast was produced in 1796 but cowries was used alongside coins, the first cedi was introduced in 1965, replacing the pound at a rate of 2.4 cedi =1 pound, or 1 pesewa =1 penny. The first cedi was pegged to the British pound at a rate of 2.4 cedis =1 pound, the first cedi was replaced in 1967 by a new cedi which was worth 1.2 first cedis. This allowed a decimal conversion with the pound, namely 2 second cedis =1 pound, the change also provided an opportunity to remove Kwame Nkrumahs image from coins and notes. The second cedi was pegged to the British pound at a rate of 2 cedi =1 pound. However, within months, the cedi was devalued to a rate of 2.45 second cedi =1 pound. This rate was equivalent to 1 cedi =0.98 U. S. dollars, further pegs were set of $0.55 in 1971, $0.78 in 1972, and $0.8696 in 1973 before the currency was floated in 1978

33.
Gambian dalasi
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The dalasi is the currency of the Gambia. It is subdivided into 100 bututs, the dalasi was adopted in 1971. It replaced the Gambian pound at a rate of 1 pound =5 dalasis, in 1971, coins in denominations of 1,5,10,25 and 50 bututs and 1 dalasi were introduced. The 1 and 5 bututs were struck in bronze while the 10 bututs was brass, all coins of this series depict former president, Sir Dawda Jawara. New 1 dalasi coins were introduced in 1987, modelled on the 50 pence coin of the United Kingdom and these replaced the larger, round dalasi coins which never saw its widespread use as the lower denominations. In 1998, a new series was introduced, in which the effigy of Dawda Jawara was dropped and replaced with the national coat of arms on the obverses. However, older Jawara era coins still commonly circulate as legal tender, the 1 dalasi coin was also downsized in size and weight, but none of the other coins were changed. Only 25 and 50 bututs and 1 dalasi coins are currently in circulation, banknotes currently in circulation are 5,10,25,50, and 100 dalasis. 1 dalasi notes were issued between 1971 and 1987, current banknotes were first issued on 27 July 1996, then reprinted in 2001. On 27 July 2006, the Central Bank of the Gambia issued a new series of notes with images similar to the issues, but with improvements in the design, paper thickness. Most noticeably, the old white borders have been removed, furthermore, the 5- and 10-dalasi are coated with a special varnish to extend circulation life. Finally, the security features of the 100-dalasi have been upgraded by the inclusion of a foil on the front of the note with the image of 100 embossed into the foil. A polymer commemorative 20 Dalasis was put into circulation to commemorate 20 years of Yahya Jammehs regime, all of the notes feature a portrait of the former President of the Gambia, Yahya Jammeh. Economy of the Gambia Central Bank of The Gambia

34.
Guinean franc
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The Guinean franc is the currency of Guinea. The first Guinean franc was introduced in 1959 to replace the CFA franc, there were 1,5,10 and 25 francs coins with banknotes in 50,100,500,1000,5000 and 10,000 francs denominations. A second series of banknotes dated 1er MARS1960 was issued on 1 March 1963 and this series was printed without imprint by Thomas De La Rue, and includes more colors, enhanced embossing, and improved security features. A new issue of coins in 1962 was made of cupronickel, in 1971, the franc was replaced by syli at a rate of 1 syli =10 francs. The Guinean franc was reintroduced as Guineas currency in 1985, at par with the syli, the coins came in denominations of 1,5 and 10 francs made of brass clad steel, with brass 25 francs and cupronickel 50 francs added later. Banknotes were first issued in denominations of 25,50,100,500,1000 and 5000 francs. Guinean notes of series are unique from those of other countries in that the date of issue features very prominently as part of the overall design on the lower left hand corner of each note. A second series issued in 1998 dropped the 25 and 50 francs banknotes, another change for this issue was the size of the 500 francs was reduced. On 11 June 2007, a 10,000 franc was issued, on July 9,2012, the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea issued a new 10,000 francs banknote which is similar to the original issue, but it has been revised. On May 11,2015, the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea issued a 20,000 franc banknote, currently, the smallest denomination in circulation is the 500 francs note due to diminished purchasing power. Economy of Guinea Historical, CFA franc Guinean syli Banque Populaire Marocaine Guineenne

Guinean franc
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5000 franc of the current series
Guinean franc
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A stack of 5,000 GNF notes compared to 1 USD, 2005

35.
Liberian dollar
–
The dollar has been the currency of Liberia since 1943. It was also the currency between 1847 and 1907. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively L$ or LD$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and it is divided into 100 cents. The first Liberian dollar was issued in 1847 and it was pegged to the US dollar at par and circulated alongside the US dollar until 1907, when Liberia adopted the British West African pound, which was pegged to sterling. In 1847, copper 1 and 2 cents coins were issued and were the only Liberian coins until 1896, the last issues were made in 1906. The Treasury Department issued notes between 1857 and 1880 in denominations of 10 and 50 cents,1,2,3,5 and 10 dollars, united States currency replaced the British West African pound in Liberia in 1935. Starting in 1937, Liberia issued its own coins which circulated alongside US currency, unfortunately the 7-sided coins were the same size and weight as the one-dollar coin, this similarity was frequently abused by traders. In the late 1980s the coins were replaced with a newly designed $10 note modeled on the US greenback. The design was modified during the 1990-2004 civil war to ostracize notes looted from the Central Bank of Liberia and this effectively created two currency zones -- the new Liberty notes were legal tender in government-held areas, while the old notes were legal tender in non-government areas. Each was of course illegal in the other territory, following the election of the Charles Taylor government in 1997 a new series of banknotes dated 1999 was introduced on March 29,2000. In 1937, coins were issued in denominations of ½,1 and 2 cents and these were augmented in 1960 with coins for 1,5,10,25 and 50 cents. A $1 coin was issued the following year, five-dollar coins were issued in 1982 and 1985. According to the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins, numerous commemorative coins in denominations ranging from 1 to 2500 Dollars have been issued beginning in the 1970s through the present, five-dollar notes were introduced in 1989 which bore the portrait of J. J. Roberts. These were known as J. J. notes, in 1991, similar notes were issued which replaced the portrait with Liberias arms. These were known as Liberty notes, on 29 March 2000, the Central Bank of Liberia introduced a new “unified” currency, which was exchanged at par for “J. J. ” notes and at a ratio of 1,2 for “Liberty” notes. The new banknotes each feature a portrait of a former president and these notes remain in current use, although they underwent a minor redesign in 2003, with new dates, signatures, and the CENTRAL BANK OF LIBERIA banner on the back. On 27 July 2016, the Central Bank of Liberia announced new banknotes will be introduced with enhanced security features, all of the denominations are the same as previous issues, with the $500 banknote being introduced as part of this series. On 6 October 2016, the Central Bank of Liberia introduced new banknotes, Central Bank of Liberia Economy of Liberia Liberian banknotes

36.
Saint Helena pound
–
The Saint Helena pound is the currency of the Atlantic islands of Saint Helena and Ascension, which are constituents of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is fixed at parity with the pound sterling and is subdivided into 100 pence, Tristan da Cunha, the third part of the territory, uses Pound sterling rather than the St Helena pound. However, there are occasionally commemorative coins minted for the island, initially, the British Pound Sterling circulated on Saint Helena, with the pound subdivided into 20 shillings, and each shilling into 12 pence. This was supplemented by local issues of paper currencies. One coin, a halfpenny, was also struck specifically for use in the islands in 1821. The notes were denominated in Pounds and Shillings and valued to the British Pound at par, the use of these coins and notes was extended from St. Helena and Ascension island later on to Tristan da Cunha as well. For a more general history of currency in the South Atlantic region, see The Sterling Currency in the South Atlantic, during this period the island was also used as a penal ground for high-ranking political prisoners, including Napoleon Bonaparte. Circulating coinage for St. Helena would not be issued again for another 163 years, prior to 1984, both Saint Helena and Ascension Island had issued non circulating commemorative coins but officially used British circulation coins. The St. Helena issued banknotes circulated alongside British coins and banknotes, in 1984, circulation coins were first introduced in the names of St. Helena and Ascension in denominations of 1,2,5,10 and 50 pence and 1 pound. The coin series was designed by engraiver and coin designer Michael Hibbit, all of the coins are the same size and composition as the corresponding British coins and valued with the British Pound at par. Each coin depicts flora and fauna unique to the islands, both the coins and notes of St. Helena and Ascension are also in use on the Island of Tristan Da Cunha, along with British coins and notes. Later issues have yet to include Tristan da Cunhas name as an incorporated territory. Tristan da Cunha still considers the British Pound as its official currency, there are also non circulating commemoratives and unofficial coin issues separately under the name of Tristan da Cunha as well as the uninhabited Gough Island but are not recognised tender. Queen Elizabeths effigy was redesigned on most of the denominations in 1991, seven sided 20 pence coins were also first introduced in 1998, and older 5 and 10 pence were replaced by downsized issues featuring new animal designs that same year. However, the 50 pence was not actually downsized until 2003, until that time the original, larger sized 50 Pence continued to circulate before being phased out. In 2002, Nickel-Brass 2 Pound coins were introduced to replace the note, the edge inscriptions of the 2 pound coins are 500th Anniversary for the 2002 coin and Loyal and Faithful for the 2003 coin. All circulation coins have on the side a portrait of the head of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, St. Helena • Ascension. Many of the coins over the years however only have written either St. Helena or Ascension Island

37.
Sierra Leonean leone
–
The leone is the currency of Sierra Leone. It is subdivided into 100 cents, the ISO4217 code is SLL and the leone is abbreviated as Le placed before the amount. The leone was introduced on 4 August 1964 and it replaced the British West African pound at a rate of 1 pound =2 leones. For an earlier Sierra Leone currency, see Sierra Leonean dollar, in 1964, decimal coins were introduced in denominations of ½,1,5,10 and 20 cents. The coins size and compositions were based in part on those of the colonial state British West Africa. All bore the portrait of the first president of Sierra Leone, in 1972,50 cents coins were introduced which carried the portrait of the succeeding president Dr. Siaka Stevens. In 1974, round cupro-nickel one leone coins were introduced and in 1976 and these latter two denominations, however, did not circulate as frequently as the lower cent denominations. The portrait of Stevens also appeared on a new, slightly smaller series of coins introduced in 1980 in denominations of ½,1,5,10 and 20 cents. In 1987, octagonal, nickel-bronze 1 leone coins were introduced with a bust portrait of General Joseph Saidu Momoh and this coin effectively replaced the one leone note. Following a period of collapse and the following Sierra Leone Civil War inflation became rampant. A new coin series was introduced in 1996 for 10,50 and 100 leones, the 50 leones is octagonal while the other two are round. These coins were struck in nickel-plated steel and feature important figures in Sierra Leones political history, ten sided, bimetallic 500 leones coins were first introduced in 2004. Of the four coins in circulation, only the 100 leones is available in small quantity due to their low valuation,500 leones coins and the two lowest denominations are rarely encountered due to rampant metal theft in the impoverished country. With the introduction of currency in 1964, a new series of Banknotes was introduced by the Bank of Sierra Leone. Originally called Shillings, the unit name Leone was finally decided upon, after considering several new designs, including a particularly attractive multi-coloured design, notes were issued in the 1,2 and 5 Leone denominations. These officially replaced notes of the British West African pound at a two leone to one pound exchange ratio,50 cents notes were introduced in 1979, followed by 10 leones in 1980 and 20 leones notes in 1982. Throughout this period the value of the currency was fixed and remained stable despite inherent economic problems. 100 leones notes were introduced in 1988, followed by 500 leones in 1991,1000 and 5000 leones in 1993,2000 leones in the year 2000 and 10,000 Leone in 2004

Sierra Leonean leone
–
1 leone 1987

38.
West African CFA franc
–
The West African CFA franc is the currency of eight independent states in West Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. These eight countries have a population of 105.7 million people. The acronym CFA stands for Communauté Financière dAfrique or Communauté Financière Africaine, the currency is issued by the BCEAO, located in Dakar, Senegal, for the members of the UEMOA. The franc is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes but no centime denominations have been issued, the Central African CFA franc is of equal value to the West African CFA franc, and is in circulation in several central African states. They are both the CFA franc, the CFA franc was introduced to the French colonies in West Africa in 1945, replacing the French West African franc. The West African colonies and territories using the CFA franc were Ivory Coast, Dahomey, French Sudan, Mauritania, Niger, Sénégal, Togo and Upper Volta. The currency continued in use when these colonies gained their independence, except in Mali, in 1973, Mauritania replaced the CFA franc with the ouguiya at a rate of 1 ouguiya =5 francs. Mali readopted the CFA franc in 1984, at a rate of 1 CFA franc =2 Malian francs, the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc in 1997, replacing the Guinea Bissau peso at a rate of 1 CFA franc =65 pesos. In 1948, aluminium 1- and 2-franc coins were introduced and these were followed in 1956 by aluminium-bronze 5,10 and 25 francs. All carried the name Afrique Occidentale Française, in 1957, 10- and 25-franc coins were issued with the name of Togo added. From 1959, coins have been issued by the BCEAO, nickel 100-franc coins were introduced in 1967, followed by the cupro-nickel 50-franc coins in 1972. Small, steel 1-franc coins were introduced in 1976, followed by bimetallic 250 francs in 1992, in 2003, bimetallic 200- and 500-franc coins were introduced. When the CFA franc was introduced, notes issued by the Banque Centrale des États de lAfrique Occidentale in denominations of 5,10,25,50,100 and 1000 francs were in circulation. 500-franc notes were added in 1946, followed by those of 5,000 francs in 1948, in 1955, the Institut dEmission de lA. O. F. Et du Togo took over the production of money, issuing notes for 50,100,500 and 1000 francs. In 1959, the BCEAO took over the issuance of money and reintroduced a 5. With the exception of a few issues, the notes of the BCEAO carry a letter to indicate the country of issuance. 50-franc notes were last issued in 1959, with 100 francs not issued since 1965, the newer notes contain updated security features and are more modern in design

West African CFA franc
–
Current coins of the West African CFA franc.

39.
Lagos
–
Lagos /ˈleɪɡɒs/ is a city in the Nigerian state of Lagos. The city, with its conurbation, is the largest in Nigeria. It is one of the fastest growing in the world, Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa, the megacity has the highest GDP, and also houses one of the largest and busiest ports on the continent. Due to rapid urbanization, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present day Lagos Mainland, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Surulere. This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas - the Island, which was the city of Lagos, before it expanded into the area known as the Mainland. Lagos, the capital of Nigeria since its amalgamation in 1914, however, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in 1976, while the federal capital also moved to Abuja in 1991. This conurbation makes up 37% of Lagos States total land area, the exact population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed, In the 2006 federal census data, the conurbation had a population of about 8 million people. However, the figure was disputed by the Lagos State Government, Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people in the 15th century, who called it Oko. Under the leadership of the Oloye Olofin, the Awori moved to an island now called Iddo and then to the larger Lagos Island. In the 16th century, the Awori settlement was conquered by the Benin Empire and the became a Benin war-camp called Eko under Oba Orhogba. Eko is still the name for Lagos. Lagos, which means lakes, was a given to the settlement by the Portuguese. The present-day Lagos state has a percentage of Awori, who migrated to the area from Isheri along the Ogun river. Throughout history, it was home to a number of warring ethnic groups who had settled in the area. Following its early settlement by the Awori nobility, and its conquest by the Bini warlords of Benin, Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo. Another explanation is that Lagos was named for Lagos, Portugal—a maritime town which, in 1849, Britain appointed John Beecroft Consul of the Bights of Benin and Biafra, a position he held until his death in 1854. John Duncan was appointed Vice Consul and was located at Wydah, at the time of Beecrofts appointment, the Kingdom of Lagos was in the western part of the Consulate of the Bights of Benin and Biafra and was a key slave trading port. Oba Akitoye then signed the Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos abolishing slavery, the signing of the 1852 treaty ushered in the Consular Period in Lagos history wherein Britain provided military protection to Lagos

40.
Abidjan
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Abidjan is the economic capital of Ivory Coast and is one of the most populous French-speaking cities in Africa. According to the 2014 Ivory Coast census, Abidjans population was 4.7 million, considered the cultural crossroads of Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation. The city expanded quickly after the construction of a new wharf in 1931, Abidjan remained the capital of Ivory Coast after its independence from France in 1960. The completion of the Vridi Canal in 1951 enabled Abidjan to become an important sea port, in 1983, the city of Yamoussoukro was designated as the official political capital of Cote dIvoire. However, almost all institutions and foreign embassies continue to be located in Abidjan. Because Abidjan is also the largest city in the country and the centre of its economic activity, the Abidjan Autonomous District, which encompasses the city and some of its suburbs, is one of the 14 districts of Ivory Coast. Abidjan lies on the south-east coast of the country, on the Gulf of Guinea, the city is located on the Ébrié Lagoon. The business district, Le Plateau, is the center of the city, along with Cocody, Deux Plateaux, and Adjamé, a slum on the north shore of the lagoon. Treichville and Marcory lie to the south, Attecoube, Locodjro, Abobo Doume and Yopougon to the west, further south lies Port Bouët, home to the airport and main seaport. Abidjan is located at 5°25′ North, 4°2′ West, Abidjan experiences a tropical wet and dry climate, according to the Köppen climate classification. Abidjan has nonconsecutive rainy seasons (precipitation above 60 millimetres with a rainy season from March to July and a short rainy season from September to December. Precipitation is abundant during the months, except for August, due to activation of the Benguela Current. The Benguela Current also lowers the temperature during August, making it the coolest month of the year. Abidjan has two dry months. Abidjan is generally humid, with relative humidity above 80% throughout the year. Each has ten formal boroughs, or communes, each being run by a mayor, Abobo consists mainly of public housing. Abobo has a population of low-income migrants. Adjamé developed from the village of Ébrié, which existed before Abidjan developed, although polluted and small in size, this commune is commercially very important for the Ivorian economy

Abidjan
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Collection of views of Abidjan, featuring St. Paul's Cathedral, the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium, the Republic square, the beach of Vridi and the CBD named Le Plateau.
Abidjan
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Some buildings in the Plateau
Abidjan
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Beach of Vridi
Abidjan
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Abidjan boatmen.

41.
Accra
–
Accra /əˈkrɑː/ is the capital and most populous city of Ghana, with an estimated urban population of 2.27 million as of 2012. It is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolis District, Accra stretches along the Ghanaian Atlantic coast and extends north. Originally built around three different settlements including a port, it served as the capital of the British Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957, Accra serves as the Greater Accra Regions economic and administrative hub. It is furthermore a centre of a range of nightclubs, restaurants. Since the early 1990s, a number of new buildings have been built, the citys National Theatre was built with Chinese assistance. In 2010, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network designated Accra a Gamma-minus-level world city, indicating a level of international influence. The central business district of Accra contains the main banks and department stores, and an area known as the Ministries. Economic activities in Accra include the financial and commercial sectors, fishing, and the manufacture of processed food, lumber, plywood, textiles, clothing, tourism is soon becoming a thriving business for arts and crafts, history cites and local travel & tour agents. The oxford street in Osu – Accra has grown to become the hub of business, the word Accra is derived from the Akan word Nkran meaning ants, a reference to the numerous anthills seen in the countryside around Accra. The name specifically refers to ants, and was applied to both the town and people by the Twi speakers. The name of Accra in the Ga language is also Ga or Gaga, the nasalised vowels sometimes shown as Gã or Gãgã, which is a cognate with Nkran. Historian Carl Christian Reindorf confirmed this etymology, proposing a link between the qualities and migratory behaviour of the local ants and those of the Ga people. The link between the ethonym and ants was explicitly reflected in the recognition of anthills as sacred places. Often ringed by sacred fences, the tall red mounds dotting Accras hinterland were seen as microcosms of human community, instead of viewing Ga speakers as a formidable military force, the Akan-speaking term Nkran cast Ga peoples as pests or nuisances to be controlled or exterminated. The name Ga is actually a version of the name Akan, Ga also gave its name to the Ga districts surrounding Accra. The name Accra was given to Nkran by Europeans, the main Ga group known as the Tumgwa We led by Ayi Kushie arrived by sea. When the Guan on the coast saw them on their canoes at sea, hence, the Lartehs refer to them as Nkran. Nkran was later corrupted by the Danes to Akra, then to present-day Accra, Nkran in the Ga language is Gaga, thus they also started calling themselves Ga

Accra
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Counter-clockwise from top: Black Star Square; The Black Star Monument; The Planetarium of Accra; terraced houses of Accra.
Accra
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Seal
Accra
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A contemporary drawing of the Danish empire fort, Fort Christiansborg, now Osu Castle. The outpost to the right is Fort Prøvestenen
Accra
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A main street of central Accra between 1885 and 1908

42.
Abuja
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Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria located in the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory. It is a city and was built mainly in the 1980s. Abujas geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion, the Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend to the south of the rock. Zuma Rock, a 792-metre monolith, lies just north of the city on the road to Kaduna State, at the 2006 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298, making it one of the ten most populous cities in Nigeria. According to the United Nations, Abuja grew by 139. 7% between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest growing city in the world. The unofficial metropolitan area of Abuja has a population of well over three million, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Nigeria, surpassed only by Lagos, Kano, as at 2016, the metropolitan area of Abuja is estimated at 6 million persons. Major religious sites include the Nigerian National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre, the city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Abuja is known for being one of the few capital cities in Africa. The indigenous inhabitants of Abuja are the Gbagyi as the language, Bassa, Gwandara, Gade, Ganagana. The location was designated in the centre of the country in the early 1970s as it signified neutrality. Another impetus for Abuja came because of Lagos population boom that made that city overcrowded, the logic used was similar to the way Brazil planned its capital, Brasília. Construction broke ground and was dedicated in the late 1970s but, due to economic and political instability, the master plan for Abuja defined the general structure and major design elements of the city that are visible in its current form. Most countries relocated their embassies to Abuja, and many maintain their former embassies as consulates in Lagos, Abuja is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States and the regional headquarters of OPEC. Abuja and the FCT have experienced population growth, it has been reported that some areas around Abuja have been growing at 20% to 30% per year. Squatter settlements and towns have spread rapidly in and outside the city limits, tens of thousands of people have been evicted since former FCT minister Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai started a demolition campaign in 2003. Along the Airport Road are clusters of settlements, namely Lugbe, Chika, Kuchigworo. Other satellite settlements are Idu, Mpape, Karimu, Gwagwa, Abujas Central District, also called Central Area, spans from the foot of Aso Rock, across the Three Arms Zone, to the southern base of the inner ring road. It is like the citys spinal cord, dividing it into the sector with Maitama and Wuse

43.
Kumasi
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Kumasi is a city in Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is near Lake Bosomtwe, in a rain forest region, Kumasi is approximately 500 kilometres north of the Equator and 200 kilometres north of the Gulf of Guinea. Kumasi is alternatively known as The Garden City because of its many species of flowers. There is evidence that the area around Kumasi has been cleared since the Neolithic age. The city rose to prominence in 1695 when it became capital of the Ashanti Confederacy due to the activities of its ruler Osei Tutu, the ruler of Kumasi, known as the Asantehene, also served as ruler of the Confederacy. With their 1701 victory over Denkyira the Asante confederacy became the state among the Ashantis. Parts of the city, including the royal residence, were destroyed by British troops in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War of 1874. Kumasi features a wet and dry climate, with relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year. Kumasi averages around 1400 mm of rain per year, the city almost features two rainy seasons, a longer season from March through July and a shorter rainy season from September to November. The months of February through to November is one long wet season, similar to the rest of West Africa, Kumasi experiences the harmattan during the low sun months. Lasting from December to February, the harmattan is the source of the citys dry season. Features of the city include Fort Kumasi and the Kumasi Hat Museum, Royal Asante attractions include the Kumasi National Cultural Centre, the Okomfo Anokye Sword, the Asantehenes Palace, and the Manhyia Palace, dating from 1925, now a museum. St. Peters Cathedral Basilica is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi, there is the large Kumasi Central Market and Tafo Kumasi. The main occupations in Kumasi are professional such as services and manufacturing, due to large gold deposits that have been mined in the area, Kumasi is the wealthiest city in Ashantiland. The citys major produce are gold bars, hardwood and cocoa, Kumasi has 50% of the timber industry of Ashantiland, and the Kaasai Industrial Area plays an important role in the local industry. The Guinness Ghana Breweries is based in Kumasi, solar panels are prevalent in Kumasi and Ashanti. Solar energy technology is an energy source and contributor of electricity generation in Ashanti. Much of the shopping and trading activity in the city takes place at Kumasis shopping streets, in and around Kejetia Market and these two areas – Kejetia and Adum – have a common boundary

44.
Port Harcourt
–
Port Harcourt is the capital and largest city of Rivers State, Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the Niger Delta, as of 2016, the Port Harcourt urban area has an estimated population of 1,865,000 inhabitants, up from 1,382,592 as of 2006. The area that became Port Harcourt in 1912 was before that part of the farmlands of the Diobu village group of the Ikwerre, an Igbo sub-group. Through the benefits of the Nigerian petroleum industry, Port Harcourt was further developed, with aspects of such as overpasses, city blocks. Oil firms that currently have offices in the city include Royal Dutch Shell, there are a number of institutions of tertiary education in Port Harcourt, mostly government-owned. The current Mayor is Soni Sam Ejekwu, the Ikwerre name for the city is Iguocha, which is loaned from the Igbo word Ụ́gwụ́ Ọ́chá. Port Harcourt was founded in 1912 by Frederick Lugard, governor of both the Northern Nigeria Protectorate and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and its purpose was to export the coal that geologist Albert Ernest Kitson had discovered in Enugu in 1909. The colonial government caused the people of Diobu to cede their land, during the First World War, Port Harcourt was used as a point for military operations against the Central Powers in German Kamerun. After the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956, Port Harcourt exported the first shipload from Nigeria in 1958. Port Harcourt became the centre of the Nigerian oil economy and it subsequently reaped benefits of its associations with the industry by undergoing modernisation and urbanisation. After the Republic of Biafra seceded from Nigeria in 1967 Port Harcourt fell to Nigerian forces on 19 May 1968, from an area of 15.54 km2 in 1914, Port Harcourt grew uncontrolled to an area of 360 km2 in the 1980s. The main city of Port Harcourt is the Port Harcourt City in the Port Harcourt local government area, consisting of the former European quarters now called Old GRA and New Layout areas. The urban area, on the hand, is made up of the local government area itself. Port Harcourt, which is the current capital of Rivers State, is highly congested as it is the major city of the state. The Greater Port Harcourt region, spans eight local government areas that include Port Harcourt, Okrika, Obio-Akpor, Ikwerre, Oyigbo, Ogu–Bolo, Etche and Eleme. Its total population was estimated at 2,000,000 as of 2009, Port Harcourt features a tropical wet climate with lengthy and heavy rainy seasons and very short dry seasons. Only the months of December and January truly qualifies as dry season months in the city, the harmattan, which climatically influences many cities in West Africa, is less pronounced in Port Harcourt. Port Harcourts heaviest precipitation occurs during September with an average of 367 mm of rain, December on average is the driest month of the year, with an average rainfall of 20 mm

45.
West
–
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the direction from east. The word West is a Germanic word passed into some Romance languages, as is apparent in the Gothic term vasi, it stems from the same Indo-European root that gave the Sanskrit vas-ati and vesper in Latin. To go west using a compass for navigation, one needs to set a bearing or azimuth of 270°, West is the direction opposite that of the Earths rotation on its axis, and is therefore the general direction towards which the Sun appears to constantly progress and eventually set. Moving continuously west is following a circle of latitude, the phrase the West is often spoken in reference to the Western world, which includes the European Union, the Americas, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in the Western Roman Empire, during the Cold War the West was often used to refer to the NATO camp as opposed to the Warsaw Pact and non-aligned nations. The expression survives, with an ambiguous meaning. In Chinese Buddhism, the West represents movement toward the Buddha or enlightenment, the ancient Aztecs believed that the West was the realm of the great goddess of water, mist, and maize. In Ancient Egypt, the West was considered to be the portal to the netherworld, Ancient Egyptians also believed that the Goddess Amunet was a personification of the West. The Celts believed that beyond the sea off the edges of all maps lay the Otherworld. According to the Bible, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River westward into the Promised Land, in Islam, while in India, people pray facing towards the west as in respect to India, Mecca is in the West-ward direction. In American literature moving West has sometimes symbolized gaining freedom, perhaps as an association with the settling of the Old West, the dictionary definition of west at Wiktionary

46.
Africa
–
Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace

47.
Gambia
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The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its coastline on the Atlantic Ocean at its western end. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa, the Gambia is situated on either side of the Gambia River, the nations namesake, which flows through the centre of The Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is 10,689 square kilometres with a population of 1,882,450 at the April 2013 census, Banjul is the Gambian capital, and the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. Later, on 25 May 1765, The Gambia was made a part of the British Empire when the government formally assumed control, in 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara, who ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup. Adama Barrow became The Gambias third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in December 2016 elections, Jammeh initially refused to accept the results, which triggered a constitutional crisis and military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States, resulting in his exile. The Gambias economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially tourism, in 2008, about a third of the population lived below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. The name Gambia is derived from the Mandinka term Kambra/Kambaa, meaning Gambia river, upon independence as a Commonwealth realm, the country used the name The Gambia. Following the proclamation of a republic in 1970, the name of the country became Republic of The Gambia. The administration of Yahya Jammeh changed the name to Islamic Republic of The Gambia in December 2015. On 29 January 2017 the new President Adama Barrow said the name will go back to Republic of The Gambia. Arab traders provided the first written accounts of the Gambia area in the ninth and tenth centuries, during the tenth century, Muslim merchants and scholars established communities in several West African commercial centres. Both groups established trans-Saharan trade routes, leading to an export trade in slaves, gold and ivory. At the beginning of the 14th century, most of what is today called Gambia was part of the Mali Empire, the Portuguese reached this area by sea in the mid-15th century, and began to dominate overseas trade. In 1588, the claimant to the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato, letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I confirmed the grant. In 1618, King James I of England granted a charter to an English company for trade with the Gambia, between 1651 and 1661, some parts of the Gambia were under the rule of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, and were bought by Prince Jacob Kettler. The British Empire occupied the Gambia when an expedition led by Augustus Keppel landed there following the Capture of Senegal in 1758. The 1783 First Treaty of Versailles gave Great Britain possession of the Gambia River and this was finally ceded to the United Kingdom in 1856. As many as three million slaves may have taken from this general region during the three centuries that the transatlantic slave trade operated

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Western Christianity
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Western Christianity consists of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, and a variety of Protestant denominations. The name has applied in order to distinguish these from Eastern Christianity. Today, the distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute, due to the spread of missionary activities, migrations. The adjectives Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity are thus used to refer to historical origins rather than present geographical locations. For most of its history the church in Europe has been divided between the Latin-speaking west, whose centre was Rome, and the Greek-speaking east, whose centre was Constantinople. Cultural differences and political rivalry created tensions between the two churches, leading to disagreement over doctrine and ecclesiology and ultimately to schism, like Eastern Christianity, Western Christianity traces its roots, directly or indirectly, to the apostles and other early preachers of the religion. In Western Christianitys original area Latin was the principal language, Christian writers in Latin had more influence there than those who wrote in Greek, Syriac, or other Eastern languages. With the last-named form of Eastern Christianity, reunion agreements were signed at the Second Council of Lyon and the Council of Florence, but these proved ineffective. The rise of Protestantism led to divisions within Western Christianity, which still persist, and wars—for example. In and after the Age of Discovery, Europeans spread Western Christianity to the New World, Roman Catholicism came to the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Protestantism, including Anglicanism, came to North America, Australia-Pacific and this Western version also has the additional phrase God from God, which was in the Creed as adopted by the First Council of Nicaea, but which was dropped by the First Council of Constantinople. The date of Easter usually differs between Eastern and Western Christianity, because the calculations are based on the Julian calendar and Gregorian calendar respectively, for example, the Church of England continued to observe Easter on the same date as the Eastern Church until 1753. Even the dates of other Christian holidays differ between Eastern and Western Christianity, Western Christianity makes up about 90% of Christians worldwide, with the Roman Catholic Church accounting for over half and various Protestant denominations making up another 40%. Hussite movements of 15th century Bohemia preceded the main Protestant uprising by 100 years and evolved into several small Protestant churches, waldensians survived also, but blended into the Reformed tradition

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Traditional African religions
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The traditional beliefs and practices of African people include various traditional religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural, afro-American religions are practiced in the Americas such as Candomblé, Santería, and Haitian Vodou. One religious ceremony practiced in Gabon and Cameroon is the Okuyi, when this trance-like state is witnessed and understood, practitioners are privy to a way of contemplating the pure or symbolic embodiment of a particular mindset or frame of reference. This builds skills at separating the feelings elicited by this mindset from their situational manifestations in daily life, such separation and subsequent contemplation of the nature and sources of pure energy or feelings serves to help participants manage and accept them when they arise in mundane contexts. This facilitates better control and transformation of these energies into positive, culturally appropriate behavior, thought, followers of traditional African religions pray to various spirits as well as to their ancestors. These secondary spirits serve as intermediaries between humans and the primary God, most African societies believe in a single Supreme Creator God. Some recognize a dual God and Goddess such as Mawu-Lisa, there are more similarities than differences in all traditional African religions. Often, the supreme God is worshiped through consultation or communion with lesser deities, the deities and spirits are honored through libation, sacrifice. The will of God is sought by the believer also through consultation of oracular deities, in many traditional African religions, there is a belief in a cyclical nature of reality. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn, Traditional African religions embrace natural phenomena – ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought – and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. According to Gottlieb and Mbiti, The environment and nature are infused in every aspect of traditional African religions and this is largely because cosmology and beliefs are intricately intertwined with the natural phenomena and environment. All aspects of weather, thunder, lightning, rain, day, moon, sun, stars, natural phenomena are responsible for providing people with their daily needs. For example, in the Serer religion, one of the most sacred stars in the cosmos is called Yoonir the, since Africa is a large continent with many ethnic groups and cultures, there is not one single technique of casting divination. The practice of casting may be done with small objects, such as bones, cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, some castings are done using sacred divination plates made of wood or performed on the ground. In traditional African societies, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis, there are generally no prohibitions against the practice. Those who divine for a living are also sought for their wisdom as counselors in life, virtue in traditional African religion is often connected with carrying out obligations of the communal aspect of life. Examples include social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, raising children appropriately, providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy, in some traditional African religions, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person or a community lives

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Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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Its name was Saint Helena and Dependencies until 1 September 2009, when a new constitution came into force giving the three islands equal status within the territory. Despite this change, the territory is still commonly referred to as simply Saint Helena after its main island. Similarly, the demonym Saint Helenians and the name for the local nationality is commonly understood to include Ascension Islanders and Tristanians. Administratively, the territory is divided into the three parts as the territorys geography, namely Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Each is governed by a council, the island of St Helena is then further divided into eight districts. The Portuguese found Saint Helena uninhabited, with an abundance of trees and they imported livestock, fruit trees and vegetables, and built a chapel and one or two houses. Though they formed no permanent settlement, the island became important for the collection of food. Englishman Sir Francis Drake very probably located the island on the lap of his circumnavigation of the world. In 1657, the English East India Company was granted a charter to govern Saint Helena by Oliver Cromwell, and the following year the Company decided to fortify and colonise the island with planters. The first governor, Captain John Dutton, arrived in 1659, a fort was completed and a number of houses were built. After the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, the East India Company received a Royal Charter giving it the right to fortify. The fort was renamed James Fort and the town Jamestown, in honour of the Duke of York and heir apparent, later King James II of England. The Kingdom of England became part of the new Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and then the United Kingdom in 1801, the most important and first settled, the island of Saint Helena, had been governed by the East India Company since 1659. For similar reasons Tristan da Cunha was annexed as a dependency of the Cape Colony on 14 August 1816, for a short period just prior, Tristan da Cunha had been inhabited by a private American expedition who named the territory the Islands of Refreshment. The political union between these colonies began to shape on 12 September 1922, when by letters patent Ascension Island became a dependency of Saint Helena. Lightly populated Tristan da Cunha, even today more than an outpost with a population of less than three hundred, followed suit on 12 January 1938. The United Kingdom and the United States still jointly operate the airfield on Ascension, which serves as a space-based communications, signals intelligence. One of only four GPS satellite ground antennas is located there, between Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha is the Tropic of Capricorn

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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A View of the Town and Island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to the English East India Company (engraving c. 1790).
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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Flag
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha.
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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Tristan da Cunha on 6 February 2013, as seen from the International Space Station